Abstract
This paper presents instrumental variables (IV) estimates of the effect of having additional children on female labor supply in Hong Kong using data from the General Household Survey (GHS) in Hong Kong from 2003 to 2005. Based on the preference for boys in Chinese families, I extend the work of Angrist and Evans (Am Econ Rev 88:450–477, 1998) to estimate the effect of a second child or more on mothers’ labor supply, as well as of a third child or more. The IV estimates of the effect of childbearing on female labor supply are substantially higher than the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimates. This is consistent with that in societies heavily affected by the Confucian tradition of son preference, the labor supply of mothers respond strongly to additional childbearing. This could account for why the labor force participation for married women tends to be lower for countries in East Asian that are economically advanced, but have strong son preference. In addition, I find that child gender is a much weaker instrument for fertility among highly educated women, reflecting that educated women tend to be less influenced by traditional values. One implication from the findings of this paper is that higher educational attainment of women could weaken son preference, and is likely to reduce mothers’ labor supply response to fertility over time.
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Notes
- 1.
Confucianism is a system of beliefs originating in China, and has played a crucial role in shaping values and societies in East Asia. It emphasizes the family as the fundamental unit of society, guided by moral and ethical principles that value perseverance and thrift, and the acceptance of the legitimacy of hierarchy (Lee, 1989; Franke et al., 1991). Family cohesion and community are seen as the foundation for sustaining the human community and the state (Tien & Olsen, 2003).
- 2.
According to the World Bank, the total fertility rate (defined as the total number of children that would be born to each woman if she were to live to the end of her child-bearing years and give birth to children in alignment with the prevailing age-specific fertility rates) in Hong Kong is 1.072 (which was among the lowest in the world), compared to 1.73 in the United States and 1.76 in Sweden in 2018.
- 3.
China, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong are among the countries with the highest levels of son preference (Birdsall et al., 1985).
- 4.
The sample years correspond to a period when the education level of the working population of women in Hong Kong was not very high overall all (only 7.7% of women in the sample are college graduates or above) and strong preferences were still widely prevalent.
- 5.
This is for all the women ages 21–50. Hong Kong has one of the lowest total fertility rates in the world (see Basten, 2015).
- 6.
In AE, the fraction of sample where the first child is a girl and a boy is 48.8% and 51.2% respectively.
- 7.
According to the Family Health Service, Department of Health in Hong Kong, termination of pregnancy is legal only under two situations: (1) If continuation of pregnancy would involve risk to the life, physical or mental health of the pregnant woman greater than if the pregnancy were terminated. (2) If the child to be born would be severely handicapped as a result of physical or mental abnormality (https://www.fhs.gov.hk/english/health_info/woman/15673.html).
- 8.
In AE, the relationship between sex mix and the probability of additional childbearing ranges from a 6 to 7 percentage point difference.
- 9.
The value would take zero for those that are not in the workforce.
- 10.
In fact, the preference for sons has long historical roots and does not only persist in Oriental societies. Studies show that Americans also display some preference for sons (see for instance, Dahl & Moretti, 2008).
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Wong, C. (2022). Family Structure and Labor Supply of Mothers with Son Preference: Evidence from Hong Kong. In: Molina, J.A. (eds) Mothers in the Labor Market. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99780-9_5
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