Effect of Desired Sex Composition in Families on the Birth Rate.

This paper attempts to assess, by assuming the sex of a live birth to be a binomial event, the contribution of desires for specific sex compositions to the level of birth rate. Data from India are utilized to quantify the contribution. It is found that the birth rate in India could be greatly reduced by an effective campaign of limiting family size to three, even if the campaign were accepted by only those couples who had achieved their desired family composition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]