Fertility determinants in the oil region of Mexico
Pick, J.B.; Tellis, G.L.; Butler, E.W.
Social Biology 36(1-2): 45-66
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0037-766X PMID: 2814568 DOI: 10.1080/19485565.1989.9988719Document Number: 363888
This study analyzes fertility determinants in the oil region of Mexico, consisting of the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, and Campeche. Data are from the 1980 Mexican census. The regression models, in which the dependent variables of children ever born and child-woman ratio are examined, reveal religious variables to be most significant, with greater fertility for non-Catholics and persons with no religion than for Catholics. Also of great importance are economic variables. Literacy and urbanization, both "classical" Mexican fertility variables, reduce fertility. There are major differences among 3 urban/rural and 3 indigenous language subsamples. The religious effects may be explained by 1 version of the minority-status hypothesis. Particularly notable were higher fertility in areas with greater no/low income and male labor force participation, and lower fertility in areas with greater female labor force participation but higher overall unemployment. There are significant fertility-lowering effects from literacy and urbanization, both well-known effects in previous worldwide and Mexican literature. Immigration is generally not significant except for secondary importance in the low urbanization and medium indigenous areas. Comparison across urban/rural sample shows that religious variables are important for the high and low urbanization samples but not for the rural samples, that economic effects are important for all 3 samples, and that indigenous language is most important for the rural sample. Comparison of indigenous samples reveal that literacy is more significant for the medium and low indigenous samples, while there are sample-specific religious and economic effects for all 3 indigenous samples.