Notes on the micro-economics of fertility.

Standard micro-economic analysis has approached the study of behavior through the notion that people behave as if they were trying to make the best choice with limited resources. Preferences for commodities, activities or states that affect the welfare of the consumer are expressed through a utility function. The objection to the micro-economic theory of fertility is the belief that behavior with respect to fertility is irrational and thus cannot be captured via a mechanism based on rational decision-making. The micro-theory of fertility is a theory about the demand for children, while supply considerations are important to the extent that they come out of market prices and the biological and health considerations which shift the supply curve of children. The cost of time hypothesis says that raising children and the resulting utility from children entails the use of various inputs. Population research is motivated with the population explosion and the desire to devise policies that affect population growth. The micro-economic fertility can contribute to people concerned with policy and benefits a flexible framework.