Fertility Transition in South and Southeast Asia.

This paper uses a combination of economic reasoning with empirical evidence to review the fertility decline experienced in South, Southeast, and East Asia. The fertility transition in this region has roughly coincided with a period of rapid economic growth. There has also been an increase in urbanization levels, greater female education and labour force participation, and demand for skilled labour. The paper focuses on the manner in which these macro-level changes have raised the production cost of children as assets and changed parental perception of children from being economic assets to liabilities. Where these factors have not come into play, such as in India, demographic change has not materialized, at least not to the extent of the other countries in this sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]