Fertility and poverty in developing countries: a comparative analysis for Albania, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Vietnam

Arnstein Aassve, University of Essex
Henriette Engelhardt, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Francesca Francavilla, University of Florence
Abbi Kedir, University of Leicester
Jungho Kim, Vienna Institute of Demography
Fabrizia Mealli, University of Florence
Letizia Mencarini, University of Florence
Stephen Pudney, University of Essex

Poverty analysis has a central part in Development Economics, whereas studies of fertility behaviour have an equally important standing in the Demography literature. Poverty and fertility are two important aspects of welfare that are closely related. In this paper we use unique longitudinal data sources to study the relationship between poverty and fertility at household level over a two to five year period. In particular we compare the relationship between fertility and poverty in four countries: Ethiopia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Albania. These countries differ greatly in their history, average income, social structure, economic institutions and demographic features. Given such differences, the paper aims to discern the extent of commonalities and differences in the poverty fertility relationship and to what extent these can be explained by the differences in economic and demographic development.