@article{VandenBroeck:182715, recid = {182715}, author = {Van den Broeck, Goedele and Maertens, Miet}, title = {Does female employment reduce fertility rates? Evidence from the Senegalese horticultural export sector}, address = {2014-08}, number = {727-2016-50359}, pages = {18}, year = {2014}, abstract = {The recent horticultural export boom in Senegal has created new off-farm wage employment opportunities for the rural population, especially for women. We hypothesise that female wage employment may lower fertility rates through an income effect, an empowerment effect and a substitution effect, and address this question empirically using household survey data and two different regression techniques (a Difference-in-Differences estimator and an Instrumental Variable approach). We find that besides education, female employment has a significant negative effect on fertility rates. Reducing fertility rates is considered as a prerequisite for reaching the MDGs, and our finding implies that the horticultural export boom and associated employment may indirectly contribute to this.}, url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/182715}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.182715}, }