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In this paper the authors develop and implement an econometric methodology estimating a family-specific exogenous component of life-expectancy in order to determine the responsiveness of fertility to exogenous changes in child mortality. They use a generalized waiting time regression model applied to length of life which is viewed as the output of a production process. They allow for family-specific heterogeneity in duration of life and for time-varying explanatory variables. The heterogeneity component retrieved from the production function estimation is used to estimate the impact of exogenous child mortality on a measure of fertility. The data concern 1938 children from 311 families included in the 1976 Malaysian Family Life Survey. This paper was previously published in Econometrica (Chicago Ill.) Vol. 51 No. 3 May 1983 pp. 731-49. (EXCERPT)
Olsen et al. (Sun,) studied this question.