Labor Market Structure and Fertility: a Comparison of Taiwan and South Korea.

From the studies based on developed countries, femle labor market have critical impacts on fertility int the post demographic transitional era. Currently East Asians NICs have already entered the stage of low fertility. How the labor market influence the fertility in this area becomes an important issue not only for the area study, but also for the general theory of low fertility. This paper examines the relationships between female labor force participation and fertility in Taiwan and South Korea and finds that Taiwanese women have higher labor force participation rates and more children. By using the survey data collected in 1996 in these two countries, this paper suggested that the difference in bargaining power in labor market, which is shaped by the structures of economical and educational opportunities, is responsible for the difference in these two countries. This result confirms the conclusions drew by the studies based on European countries. That is, a country with a more ?women friendly? environment will have both higher female labor force participation rate and fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]