A Model to Study the Socio-cultural Determinants of Fertility: An Extension of Bongaarts' Model

Abstract

There is a plethora of information on the analyses of fertility differentials by various socio-economic factors. These studies have succeeded in pointing out some of the socio-economic and psychological determinants of fertility. However, the entire picture of variables covering fertility behaviour in different cultural settings is not clear. Moreover, only a few studies have attempted to explain the causal relationship between socio-cultural factors and fertility, which as a consequence, remains less well understood [4]. For instance, some studies speculate that socio-cultural changes, or degree, of modernity, can create conditions, which tend to increase fertility. If this is so, there may be a positive relationship at the individual level between modernity and fertility. On the other hand, socio-cultural changes can create conditions, which tend to increase contraceptive practice. If so, when individuals or populations are classified on a scale of modernity, an inverse relationship between modernity and fertility may be found.