Abstract
Why has European fertility fallen dramatically and why have European women taken paid employment over more years of their lives? What answers are suggested by economic models of women's labour supply and fertility? What are the implications of these models for differences in fertility and labour supply patterns between women and for econometric analysis? In this address, I review the main economic models, suggest how they answer these questions and explore what extensions to these models may be required. The review of models is limited to those which consider both fertility and employment decisions.
I am indebted to two anonymous referees for their very helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper, and to participants at the ESPE conference for their questions and discussion of the paper. I am, of course, solely responsible for the use I have made of their help.
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Presidential Address to the European Society for Population Economics, Third Annual Conference, 8–10 June 1989, Domaine de Frémigny, Bouray sur June, France.
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Ermisch, J. European women's employment and fertility again. J Popul Econ 3, 3–18 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00160414
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00160414