Immigrant Fertility in Germany: The Role of Culture
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Immigrant Fertility in Germany: The Role of Culture
Journal of Contextual Economics – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 134(2014), Iss. 3 : pp. 305–340 | First published online: October 03, 2017
6 Citations (CrossRef)
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Kamila Cygan-Rehm, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Department of Economics, Lange Gasse 20, D-90403 Nuremberg
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                                                                            Cohort, Policy, and Process: The Implications for Migrant Fertility in West GermanyErman, Jeylan Demography, Vol. 59(2022), Iss. 1 P.221 https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-9629146 [Citations: 7]
Abstract
This paper focuses on the role of home country"s fertility culture in shaping immigrants" fertility. I use the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to study completed fertility of first-generation immigrants who arrived from different countries and in different years. The variation in total fertility rates (TFRs) across countries and over time serves as a proxy for cultural changes. By using a linear fixed-effects approach, I find that women from countries with high TFRs have significantly more children than women from countries with low TFRs. I also demonstrate that this positive relationship is attenuated by potential selection that operates towards the destination country. In addition, home country"s TFRs explain a large proportion of fertility differentials between immigrants and German natives. The results suggest that home country"s culture affects immigrants" long-run outcomes, thereby supporting the socialization hypothesis.
