Essays on Fertility Related Issues in East Asia

Abstract

This dissertation is divided into three interconnected chapters, each addressing a specific aspect of how institutional and cultural factors shape demographic and socioeconomic outcomes, focusing primarily on China and the broader East Asian region.

Chapter 1, titled "Born with Burden? The Effect of Family-Planning Above-quota Sanctions on Children's Education in Rural China," investigates how the above-quota sanctions imposed by China's coercive family planning policies affect the educational outcomes of children in rural areas. It highlights the severe financial and non-financial penalties faced by families who exceeded their birth quotas, particularly low-income households, and examines the trade-off between human capital investment and the burden of sanctions. This chapter contributes to the literature by demonstrating that while family planning policies may have promoted human capital accumulation through reduced family sizes, they also disadvantaged over-quota households, especially in terms of children's education.

Chapter 2, "Beyond Policy: Parental Preference and Fertility Behavior under China's Coercive Family Planning Regime," shifts focus to the deeply rooted cultural phenomenon of son preference in China. It examines how this preference interacts with family planning policies to influence fertility behaviors and the intra-household allocation of resources. This chapter builds on the finding that son-biased fertility-stopping behavior is prevalent, with parents continuing to have children until their desired gender composition, especially sons, is achieved. This chapter reveals that son preference, combined with the coercive family planning policies, reinforces gender disparities in educational outcomes, particularly in households that violate policy mandates.

Chapter 3, "Education Competition and Ultra-Low Fertility in East Asia," extends the analysis beyond China to explore the broader context of East Asia, where countries such as South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan also face persistently low fertility rates. The chapter focuses on the role of education competition and its influence on family formation behaviors. It argues that the intense competition for educational success, driven by Confucian values, high-stakes entrance exams, and rising income inequality, has significantly contributed to the region's ultra-low fertility rates. The high financial burden of education, particularly shadow education and private schooling, discourages parents from having more children. This chapter integrates Becker's Quantity-Quality (Q-Q) trade-off model with a competitive education framework to explain how the educational competition reduces fertility in East Asian societies. It also discusses potential policy interventions to alleviate the competitive pressures on families and promote higher fertility rates. Show more