A note on measuring the independent impact of family planning programs on fertility declines
Hernandez, D.J.
Demography 18(4): 627-634
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0070-3370 PMID: 7308540 DOI: 10.2307/2060951Document Number: 371119
This note critically evaluates recent cross-national studies that estimate the independent effect of family planning programs on the fertility of the developing world. The evaluation demonstrates that past research is biased to produce overestimates of net program impact. A new estimate is derived to account more completely for the effects of the social context and socioeconomic development on fertility. This estimate indicates that 5 percent of the variation in crude birth rate decline for 89 developing countries is due to family planning programs. This is substantially less than past estimates.