Rural Agricultural Change and Fertility Transition in Nepal

Using longitudinal panel data from the Western Chitwan Valley of Nepal, this study examines the impact of the use of modern farm technologies on fertility transition—specifically, the number of births in a farm household. Previous explanations for the slow pace of fertility transition in rural agricultural settings often argued that the demand for farm labor is the primary driver of high fertility. If this argument holds true, the use of modern farm technologies that are designed to carry out labor‐intensive farm activities ought to substitute for farm labor and discourage births in farm families. However, little empirical evidence is available on the potential influence of the use of modern farm technologies on the fertility transition. To fill this gap, the panel data examined in this study provide an unusual opportunity to test this long‐standing, but unexplored, argument. The results demonstrate that the use of modern farm technologies, particularly the use of a tractor and other modern farm implements, reduce subsequent births in farm households. This offers important insight for understanding the fertility transition in Nepal, a setting that is experiencing high population growth and rapidly changing farming practices.     

Socioeconomic Implications of the Increasing Foreign Remittance to Nepal: Evidence from the Nepal Living Standard Survey

The period since the 1990s witnessed a strong economic performance and labour demand in many countries in the Middle East, East Asia, and West, which coincided with the major political turmoil in Nepal causing enormous increase in emigration and foreign remittance. Using micro‐data for 1996 and 2004, this paper examines foreign remittance to Nepal and its socioeconomic implications. Data indicate that foreign remittance has helped increase income sizably and reduce poverty and income inequality marginally. Various family and individual characteristics are used to test whether the socioeconomically disadvantaged groups such as those with low non‐remittance income and assets, low caste and ethnic backgrounds, and from rural areas and remote regions benefited equally from foreign remittance. Analytical strategy involved estimating regressions of foreign remittance using the Generalized Least Squares estimator for families with foreign remittance and Three Stage Least Squares estimator for all families to minimize self‐selection and simultaneous causality bias. Although non‐remittance income and some of the low caste, ethnic, and spatiality backgrounds showed less consistent relationships, findings suggest that smaller families particularly with low asset‐holding and socioeconomic backgrounds were likely to receive less remittance. These findings highlight an important progress that the Nepali society is making toward levelling the playing field in foreign employment and remittance with migration to the regions and countries other than India offering better remittance prospects. Yet, further policy efforts are needed to ensure that foreign employment and remittance do not exacerbate the increasingly polarizing economic structure leaving the bottom sections of the society further worse off.     

Socioeconomic Status and Infant Mortality: Evidence from a Rural Agricultural State

Abstract

This research examines the nature and extent to which the tradtional inverse relationship between infant mortality and socioeconomic status holds true in Kansas for the years around 1950,1960, and 1970. A social-area ranking approach and correlation and regression analysis failed to show the significant inverse relationship reported by other researchers. Contrary to expectations, a blurring and narrowing of this relationship resulted over the three time periods. A significant negative correlation resulted between the percentage of rural farm residents in counties and infant mortality, indicating that the social organization characteristics of a rural state may provide a quality of life that transcends traditional socioeconomic differentials.     

Parental Education and Fertility: An Empirical Investigation Based on Evidence from Taiwan

This paper investigated the size of the impact of parental education on fertility choice and whether this effect was larger for maternal education. This paper utilized the substantial expansion of educational opportunities in Taiwan and thus applied the two-stage least-square method to account for the endogeneity of educational attainment. The results showed that parental education was an important factor in reducing the fertility rate. In addition, maternal education was a stronger determinant than paternal education.     

Perceived Economic Uncertainty and Fertility: Evidence From a Labor Market Reform

Whereas in theory individuals tend to postpone fertility decisions in times of economic uncertainty, empirical evidence on that question is scarce. Using data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel (N = 4,548), the authors estimated the effect of economic concerns on the probability of becoming pregnant in the next year. They exploited exogenous variation in economic concerns induced by the announcement of a major German unemployment benefit reform as an instrumental variable and found that strong economic concerns were significantly related to lower fertility of women between ages 26 and 44 years cohabiting with a male partner. Jointly estimating the impact of male and female concerns in a model that allows for endogeneity of perceived economic uncertainty revealed that it was strong economic concerns perceived by the women that reduced fertility. The effect was driven by male main breadwinner couples, by couples with a medium household income, and by couples who already had children.     

Question Order and Fair Play: Evidence of Even-Handedness in Rural Surveys1

The norm of even-handedness is a question-order effect known to occur in face-to-face interviews when respondents favor one of two complementary or competing opinion questions, both written at the same level of specificity. After defining and illustrating the concept, evidence of even-handedness in opinion questions is explored in a Montana mail survey and in recall of recent behavior in Iowa telephone interviews. The Montana survey provides evidence of education effects that are not consistent with previous theories of cognitive sophistication, suggesting that future research must consider the interaction between substantive issues and cognitive processes. The Iowa poll provides evidence that respondents' recall of their recent behaviors and the behaviors of their partner also are subject to context effects. This poll also provides evidence that even-handedness operates independently of social desirablity, especially among women.     

Theoretical Factors Influencing Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Evidence from a Rural Sample Living in Poverty

ABSTRACT

This study of 414 adolescents who resided in rural Arkansas families receiving AFDC was designed to investigate what theoretical factors predicted frequency of sexual intercourse in the past year prior to the study and number of lifetime sexual partners among males and females. Multivariate analyses indicated that elements of bonding were important to the sexual behavior of females, but not males. On the other hand, feelings of frustration influenced male sexual behavior only. The number of sex partners was increased by associations with sexually active peers for both genders while only females made excuses. The only factor which was associated with both sexual behaviors among both genders was having sex to have a baby to love or to draw a partner closer. The family social work implications of these findings were discussed.     

Schools,Their Spatial Distribution and Characteristics,and Fertility Limitation*

This article investigates the complex relationship between various dimensions of women's educational context and their contraceptive use later in life. Using data from rural Nepal on all the schools that ever existed in one community, I create geographically weighted measures of school characteristics—specifically teacher and student characteristics—that capture exposure to the complete array of schools and investigate the direct relationship between these dimensions of school characteristics and contraceptive use. These analyses provide new information on the broader issue of how social context influences the adoption of innovative behaviors by exploring the wide-reaching effects of school characteristics on individuals. Findings show that the gender of teachers, the gender of other students, and the level of teacher education are all related to women's use of contraception; that increased exposure to these school characteristics throughout the study area, but not necessarily at the closest school, is related to higher rates of contraceptive use; and that school characteristics early in the life course can have long-term consequences for individual behavior.     

Depressive Symptoms and Father Involvement in Canada: Evidence from a National Study

Paternal involvement in instrumental and emotional parenting behaviours benefits families and children. While fathers have become more involved in childrearing over the past several decades, significant variability in paternal involvement with children remains. Yet, little work has focused on the facilitators and barriers to involved fathering and work in the Canadian context is particularly sparse. This study focuses on one potentially important factor, depressive symptoms, and its relationship with multiple dimensions of father involvement among Canadian men. Using national quantitative data from the Survey of Canadian Fathers‐Enquête des Pères Canadiens (n = 2,099) and ordinary least squares regression models, we focus on the relationship between depressive symptoms and six measures of fathering behavior. Results indicate that depression is significantly associated with most behaviours, but these results diverge from studies in other countries and contexts. Overall, our findings underscore the importance of context‐specific studies on parenting and the need for additional work on fathering and mental health in Canada.     

Migration Patterns and Remittance Transfer in Nepal: A Case Study of Sainik Basti in Western Nepal

International labour migration is a main livelihood strategy for many people in Nepal. This article analyses the migration process from the perspective of migrants and their non‐migrating household members, exploring the institutional regulations that structure the organization of migration and the cash flows involved. The results are based on a case study conducted in Sainik Basti, Western Nepal, in 2002. The article shows that for different destinations there are specific ways of organizing migration. These country specific ways of organizing migration demand specific assets from prospective migrants and their household members and, therefore, influence their choice of destination. Savings are remitted back home mainly by carrying them personally or by using the hundi system. In spite of the risks and difficulties involved, international labour migration often contributes to sustainable livelihoods. The main outcomes of migration are increased financial capital, education of the children, migration‐specific knowledge, and increased social capital. This enlarged asset endowment lowers both investment costs and risks involved in migration, and thereby increases its potential net return. Each act of migration, therefore, facilitates and stimulates subsequent migration.¹     

Chafee Educational and Training Voucher Programs: System Coordination in Rural New England

This paper explores service providers’ perspectives on a series of issues associated with systemic coordination in the implementation of the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher (ETV) Program in three relatively rural states. Findings derived from mail surveys (N = 105) and in-depth interviews (N = 17) with child welfare and educational service providers highlight challenges and innovations related to working with Chafee ETV eligible youth. Findings suggest that raising awareness of the Chafee ETV program’s provisions, improving access to concrete services, and facilitating collaboration among service providers may aid the transition to post secondary education for youth in out-of-home care.     

Food Calorie Intake under Grain Price Uncertainty in Rural Nepal

This study evaluated the effects of grain output price uncertainty on the farm income of rural households and, consequently, how this uncertainty influenced caloric intake through changes in farm income. Using a national rural household survey data set in Nepal, augmented with output price uncertainty measures calculated from historical time-series data, we found that grain output price uncertainty (especially for rice and wheat) tends to decrease crop production income of rural households. In addition, we found that lower crop income from production decreases calorie intake of rural households. Taken together, these results suggest that output price uncertainty during the production process tends to reduce caloric intake of rural Nepalese households. The price uncertainty seemed to reduce the crop income households need to buy calorie-rich staple foods.     

Concept Mapping to Measure Outcomes in Study Abroad Programs1

Faculty efforts to measure outcomes in study abroad programs typically fall short of current expectations for measurable results and increased competencies. Part of the problem stems from the dual challenge of conducting rigorous, objective assessment of these programs without losing the rich, subjective meaning of the cultural experience for student growth and development. The concept mapping method developed by Trochim is a potentially powerful tool for overcoming this challenge, allowing evaluators to utilize qualitative and quantitative research designs simultaneously. This paper illustrates the use of the method in an American social work study abroad program based in Mexico.     

Religious Communities,Immigration, and Social Cohesion in Rural Areas: Evidence from England*

Religious communities are important sources of bridging and bonding social capital that have varying implications for perceptions of social cohesion in rural areas. In particular, as well as cultivating cohesiveness more broadly, the bridging social capital associated within mainline religious communities may represent an especially important source of support for the social integration of new immigrant groups. Although the bonding social capital associated with evangelical communities is arguably less conducive to wider social cohesion, it may prompt outreach work by those communities, which can enhance immigrant integration. This article examines these assumptions by exploring the relationship between mainline and evangelical religious communities, immigration, and residents' perceptions of social cohesion in rural areas in England. I model the separate and combined effects of religious communities and economic in‐migration on social cohesion using multivariate statistical techniques. The analysis suggests that mainline Protestant communities enhance social cohesion in rural England, while evangelical communities do not. The social integration of immigrants appears to be more likely where mainline Protestant and Catholic communities are strong, but is unaffected by the strength of evangelical ones.     

Factors Affecting Infant Mortality in Rural Bangladesh: Results from a Retrospective Sample Survey1

Abstract The primary objective of this paper is to assess the relative contribution of different socioeconomic and environmental factors affecting infant mortality in a rural area of Bangladesh. Data from detailed interviews with 1,787 women of reproductive ages were collected and analyzed. A multivariate approach was employed to examine the relative importance of different correlates of infant mortality. Birth interval and contraceptive use emerged as the strongest correlates of infant mortality. In addition, landholding size, birth of preferred sex, mother's age, and prior pregnancy loss had significant effects on infant mortality. The analysis suggests that some aspects of childbearing result in higher risks of infant mortality. Infant mortality could be reduced by altering the spacing of births and avoiding births at early reproductive ages. A positive impact on infant mortality could also result from improvements in economic conditions.     

Demand for Immunization,Parental Selection,and Child Survival: Evidence from Rural India

This study focuses on the estimation of demand for immunization as well as its technological effect on the survival probability of a child in rural India. Careful attention is paid to the consequences of parental selection on survival technology and demand for health inputs. The results suggest that child mortality is negatively related to the likelihood of purchasing vaccination, but imperfect vaccination substantially reduce the beneficial effect. Results also suggest that a mother who perceives her child faces a risk of higher likelihood of death compensates for their beliefs in a beneficial way. Consequently, estimations that ignore this selection underestimate the impact of immunization on child survival. Mothers also engage in complementary behavior by reinforcing investment when they choose among health inputs. Estimations that ignore the complementarity substantially overstate the impact of prenatal care and delivery care on demand for immunization. The evidence for complementarity among measured inputs also implies that there might be favorable selection between measured and unmeasured inputs, although the adverse selection seems dominant in this study.Useful comments were received from Michael Grossman, John Strauss, Agnes Quisumbing, Robert Retherford, Rakesh Munshi, DoAnne Sanchez, Kathleen Beegle, seminar participants in the Econometric Society meeting and University of Hawaii, and two anonymous referees. I would like to thank Gayle Yamashita and Vicky Ho for their assistance with compiling data.     

The Impacts of Supermarket Procurement on Farming Communities in India: Evidence from Rural Karnataka

The rapid expansion of supermarket retailing, with its impact on farmer communities, represents a contentious part of India's recent economic development. This article reports on three districts of Karnataka, where a survey of 78 farmers supplying fruits and vegetables to Reliance Fresh, a leading supermarket chain, reveals low levels of vertical co‐ordination, a lack of written contracts, and highly competitive environments, with the quality parameters used by supermarkets specifying only a limited set of conditions. These findings suggest that supermarket‐led restructuring in India has not yet reached a stable institutional situation.