Abstract
Whereas most research focuses on how variations in socioeconomic conditions contribute to the diversity in fertility behavior within a population, this paper analyzes the fertility of Danish twins in order to find possible genetic influences on an individual’s fertility decisions. The analyses reveal that male monozygotic twins have a significantly higher correlation of completed fertility than their dizygotic counterparts, which suggests a (dominant) genetic influence on male fertility behavior. For females, an important gene-environment interaction emerges: the difference in the correlation of completed fertility between mono- and dizygotic twins changes over time. Only for later cohorts is there evidence for a greater similarity of completed fertility among female monozygotic twins as compared to dizygotic twins. This means that the genetic influence on the fertility of females increases over the sample period.
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Kohler, HP., Christensen, K. (2000). Genetic Influences on Fertility Behavior: Findings From a Danish Twin Study, 1910–1923. In: Rodgers, J.L., Rowe, D.C., Miller, W.B. (eds) Genetic Influences on Human Fertility and Sexuality. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4467-8_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4467-8_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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