1st Edition

Poverty Reduction - An Effective Means of Population Control Theory, Evidence and Policy

By Mohammed Sharif Copyright 2007

    This book contends that high fertility is rational in that it achieves short term economic benefit and long term old age-support for families. Wider macroeconomic effects are not the concern of the individual family. This means that the fertility choices of the poor are not a result of ignorance. The objective of this book is to drive home the fact that it is poverty that is responsible for high fertility and that until the problem of poverty is effectively dealt with the problem of high fertility will continue to persist. The book concludes with a series of policy recommendations for the eradication of poverty.

    Chapter 1 Population Control Policy – Problems of Assumptions; Chapter 2 Population Control Policy and Working Poor Behavior - An Analysis of Incompatibility; Chapter 3 Irrational Fertility Behavior Hypothesis – An Empirical Examination, 1998–2000 Data; Chapter 4 Irrational Fertility Behavior Hypothesis – Further Examination, 2001–2005 Data; Chapter 5 Child Participation, Nature of Work, and Fertility Demand Demand - A Theoretical Analysis; Chapter 6 The Observed Landholding-Fertility Relationship - Is it Monotonic?; Chapter 7 Poverty and Fertility – Evidence and Policy Implications, 1998–2000 Data; Chapter 8 Poverty and Fertility – Further Evidence, 2001–2005 Data; Chapter 9 Poverty Eradication Policies; Chapter 10 Concluding Remarks;

    Biography

    Mohammed Sharif is Professor of Economics at the University of Rhode Island, USA. He specializes in Development Economics with special focus on poverty, subsistence, inequity, and fertility in developing countries. He has published in a wide range of journals including Kyklos and Cambridge Journal of Economics and has presented results of his research in the World Congress of the Econometric Society and the Annual Meetings of the American Economic Association. His book on Work Behavior of the World's Poor - Theory, Evidence, and Policy, also published by Ashgate, has received a laudatory review by the Journal of Economic Literature.

    'Essential reading for those with an interest in the issue of population and development. The book offers an interesting blend of analytical and empirical insights in modelling fertility and poverty, and drawing policy implications.' Dr Sushanta Mallick, Queen Mary, University of London, UK 'The book makes a seminal contribution to foster better understanding on the dynamics of the relationship between population and development and will constitute an important reference for academics, researchers and students interested in the subject.' Rafiqul Huda Chaudhury, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal 'Explores the relationship between poverty and high fertility and the ways in which reducing one will affect the other.' Journal of Economic Literature