International Journal of Health Policy and Management (Dec 2014)

Localization of Determinants of Fertility through Measurement Adaptations in Developing-Country Settings: The Case of Iran Comment on “Analysis of Economic Determinants of Fertility in Iran: A Multilevel Approach”

  • Amir Erfani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2014.127
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 7
pp. 413 – 415

Abstract

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Studies investigating fertility decline in developing countries often adopt measures of determinants of fertility behavior developed based on observations from developed countries, without adapting them to the realities of the study setting. As a result, their findings are usually invalid, anomalous or statistically non-significant. This commentary draws on the research article by Moeeni and colleagues, as an exemplary work which has not adapted measures of two key economic determinants of fertility behavior, namely gender inequality and opportunity costs of childbearing, to the realities of Iran’s economy. Measurement adaptations that can improve the study are discussed.

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