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Abstract

Vol. 61, No. 1, pp. 1-17 (2010)

“Determinants of Childbirth in Russia -A Micro-Data Approach-”
Kazuhiro Kumo (Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University)

This paper uses micro-data from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) to identify factors that explain fertility between 1995 and 2004.
 An overview of nationwide birth dynamics in post-Soviet Russia shows that not only do changes in economic conditions move in lockstep with the overall birth rate trend, as has been pointed out by numerous researchers, but so too do proximate determinants of fertility, which suggests that rises and falls in the total fertility rate in Russia are also affected by factors such as demographic timing effects.
 While the previous studies all used fertility data up to 2001, this paper analyzes data up to 2004, which is significant as the birth rate has shown a sustained rise since 2001. It is shown that household income levels do not have a significant impact on birth probability, and this may indicate the possibility that economic growth did not lead directly to the recovery in the birth rate.