scholarly journals How Many Children? A Comparison of the Influence of Individual and Country-Level Predictors on Female Childbearing Behavior in 25 OECD Countries

Author(s):  
MANDY BOEHNKE ◽  
MICHAEL FELDHAUS

Utilizing a multi-level analytic approach (HLM), the present study analyzes reasons for variations in the number of children among 4069 25- to 34-year old women in 25 OECD countries, surveyed in the World Value Survey (WVS). Educational attainment, household income, age, and pro-child attitudes were included as individual-level predictors, whereas on the country-level, individualism and masculinity (as conceptualized by Hofstede), the Human Development Index (HDI), marriages rates, female employment rates, and early childcareenrolment rates were used as predictors. On the individual level, pro-child attitudes and age covaried positively with number of children, educational attainment did so negatively, whereas household incomewas unrelated. Beyond the overall finding that more highly educated women have fewer children, analyses revealed that the impact of education on fertility varies significantly between countries. Of the macro-level indicators, HDI had the strongest impact in that women in countries higher on HDI have fewer children. Country-specific individualism predicted individual number of children positively after partialing for HDI. This result was, however, not sustained, once female employment rates were included in the prediction model: Against age-old folklore convictions, 25- to 34-year-old woman in countries with a high female employment rate have more not fewer children.

Author(s):  
Ling-Meng Chan ◽  
Chia-Guan Keh ◽  
Siu-Eng Tang ◽  
Yan-Teng Tan ◽  
Ying-Yin Koay

“Tax the rich, subsidise the poor” is deemed one of the typical finance characteristics of democracy and a solution in reducing income inequality. The Malaysian government has also adopted this strategy in its income redistribution policy. Evidently, this strategy can minimise the income gaps at the country level. However, it is doubtful if it can be effectively done at the individual level. The rich have to pay more while the poor can enjoy the ‘free’ income. Would that lead to financial satisfaction? Hence, the main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of individual perceptions on the government’s democratic act in implementing "tax the rich, subsidise the poor" policy for financial satisfaction among Malaysians. For an empirical analysis, this paper discusses the study conducted which used the sixth wave of the World Value Survey (WVS) data with 1290 respondents and is regressed by the ordered logit and ordered probit modelling. The results indicated that the democratic act of ‘taxing the rich and subsidising the poor’ in reality reduces financial satisfaction among Malaysians. In contrast, these same Malaysians wish for a larger income difference as an incentive for individual efforts. In view of this, the government and policy makers should make revisions to the current progressive taxation system or look for other alternative taxation systems which may be seen as fairer and can improve financial satisfaction among Malaysians at each income level.


2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Tiago De Oliveira

This analysis of the Portuguese case shows a non-linear relationship between the number of children and education in recent years. Using the data from ten years before this hypothesis was confirmed, and we can see that the general decline in Portuguese fertility within the last decade was due to the fertility decrease of the less educated people, although partly attenuated by the fertility increase of the upper social groups. The reasons for a non-linear relationship are discussed within the context of female employment rates and salary differentials by educational attainment. The main hypothesis is that differences in fertility are related to an ‘education-work’ effect amongst those in the less educated groups and to an ‘education-income’ effect amongst the more educated.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (04) ◽  
pp. 1850026 ◽  
Author(s):  
ABDALLAH ALSAAD

The paper examines the impact of individual culture orientations on the nascent entrepreneurship at the individual level. The cultural orientations investigated in this study were based on Schwartz’s values model. Using data from World Value Survey collected from seven countries ([Formula: see text]), we investigate the direct effect of Open to Change, Self-enhancement, Conservation and Self-transcendence values on nascent entrepreneurship. The results show that the Open to Change values, including Stimulation and Self-direction values, significantly and positively affect nascent entrepreneurship. Only one of the Self-enhancement values has a positive effect on nascent entrepreneurship — the Power value. Meanwhile, Conservation values, including Tradition and Security, negatively and significantly affect the nascent entrepreneurship. Finally, the results show no support for the association between Self-transcendence values and nascent entrepreneurship. Our findings highlight that some values are more conducive to driving or inhibiting nascent entrepreneurship. Investigating the effect of individual cultural orientations on nascent entrepreneurship in the lens of personal values benefits us to comprehend individual motivations toward entrepreneurship, and will light many features of entrepreneurship behavior at the individual level and within and across cultures.


Genus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Éva Beaujouan ◽  
Laurent Toulemon

AbstractAt the individual level, a very strong negative relationship is observed between age at first birth and total number of children. However, at the country level, it is possible that no relationship exists between factors that reduce fertility at younger ages and stimulate it at older ages. Hence, across countries, the size of the decline in youth fertility is potentially unrelated to the size of the increase in fertility at older ages or the decline in total fertility. We study the fertility of women and their age at childbirth, with particular attention to their evolution over the last 40 years in countries across Europe. Comparing these countries, the increase in births after age 30 has occurred relatively independently of the decline at younger ages according to both period and cohort, and we find no positive relationship between the delay of first birth and decline in total fertility. On the contrary, an inverse relationship evidently exists at the country level, as longer delays generally correspond to smaller declines in total fertility. Context effects largely dominate individual constraints and play an important role in the occurrence of later births.


2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-44
Author(s):  
João Cancela

Understanding the roots of political engagement has been one of the critical tasks performed by students of comparative political behaviour. This paper adds to the literature by examining the determinants of political discussion about local and national affairs in Europe. A series of multilevel logit models are fitted to the data (n = 28,563 from 31 European countries) to test the individual and country level determinants of political discussion about local and national matters. At the individual level, we find that gender, the type of community, the type of civil society organisations people are members of, and their level of education affect the type of politics they engage with. At the macro level, citizens from countries with a higher economic development are more likely to engage in discussions about national affairs, while the impact of local government autonomy does not seem to make individuals more likely to engage in discussions about local politics. The findings suggest that if local politics is considered the share of politically disengaged citizens can be smaller than is typically estimated. The full range of democratic practice may thus remain underappreciated if non-national politics is left out of the picture in the study of political engagement.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebekah Burroway

Using multi-level models, the analysis examines female employment and child stunting across 49 developing countries. At the country level, female labor force participation is not associated with malnutrition after controlling for economic development. At the individual level, a binary measure of employment is not significantly associated with malnutrition. However, a more nuanced measure of seven occupational categories shows that certain types of employment improve malnutrition. Professional, clerical, sales, and domestic jobs are associated with reduced stunting. These effects are only partially mediated by wealth, perhaps suggesting that some jobs may bring benefits to the household beyond the sheer acquisition of tangible resources. Agricultural jobs are associated with increased malnutrition. Manual labor and service work do not have an effect on malnutrition, compared to unemployment. Thus, women’s employment is not necessarily a mechanism for empowerment and wellbeing. Not all jobs are created equal, and many of them do not confer the benefits that are typically associated with working outside the home.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1161
Author(s):  
Raluca Pais ◽  
Thomas Maurel

The epidemiology and the current burden of chronic liver disease are changing globally, with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) becoming the most frequent cause of liver disease in close relationship with the global epidemics of obesity, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The clinical phenotypes of NAFLD are very heterogeneous in relationship with multiple pathways involved in the disease progression. In the absence of a specific treatment for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), it is important to understand the natural history of the disease, to identify and to optimize the control of factors that are involved in disease progression. In this paper we propose a critical analysis of factors that are involved in the progression of the liver damage and the occurrence of extra-hepatic complications (cardiovascular diseases, extra hepatic cancer) in patients with NAFLD. We also briefly discuss the impact of the heterogeneity of the clinical phenotype of NAFLD on the clinical practice globally and at the individual level.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo Chowell ◽  
Sushma Dahal ◽  
Raquel Bono ◽  
Kenji Mizumoto

AbstractTo ensure the safe operation of schools, workplaces, nursing homes, and other businesses during COVID-19 pandemic there is an urgent need to develop cost-effective public health strategies. Here we focus on the cruise industry which was hit early by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 40 cruise ships reporting COVID-19 infections. We apply mathematical modeling to assess the impact of testing strategies together with social distancing protocols on the spread of the novel coronavirus during ocean cruises using an individual-level stochastic model of the transmission dynamics of COVID-19. We model the contact network, the potential importation of cases arising during shore excursions, the temporal course of infectivity at the individual level, the effects of social distancing strategies, different testing scenarios characterized by the test’s sensitivity profile, and testing frequency. Our findings indicate that PCR testing at embarkation and daily testing of all individuals aboard, together with increased social distancing and other public health measures, should allow for rapid detection and isolation of COVID-19 infections and dramatically reducing the probability of onboard COVID-19 community spread. In contrast, relying only on PCR testing at embarkation would not be sufficient to avert outbreaks, even when implementing substantial levels of social distancing measures.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 628-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark R. Joslyn ◽  
Steven M. Sylvester

In this article, we examine the individual predictors that are responsible for accurate beliefs about the link between vaccinations and autism. We then show how these beliefs affect policy preferences about vaccines. We derive two hypotheses from motivated reasoning theory and test these on national survey data from Gallup and CBS News. Republicans were less likely to report accurate beliefs than Democrats. In addition, educational attainment modified the impact of party identification. The gap between Republicans and Democrats in likelihood of reporting accurate beliefs was largest among the most educated portion of the public. Finally, we show that accurate beliefs about vaccines, independent of statistical controls, are important predictors of policy attitudes about unvaccinated children attending public school and parental choice about the decision to vaccinate. We discuss the theoretical and practical significance of these findings.


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