Contraception as Development? New Evidence from Family Planning in Colombia
研究哥伦比亚最大计划生育组织Profamilia的扩张，发现计划生育仅解释该国生育率下降的不到10%，但降低了推迟首次生育的成本，使年轻女性获得更多教育、工作机会和独立生活能力。
There has been considerable debate in the last decade about whether or not family planning programmes in developing countries reduce fertility or improve socio-economic outcomes. This article provides new evidence by studying the expansion of one of the world's oldest and largest family planning organisations - Profamilia of Colombia. It finds that family planning explains less than 10% of Colombia's fertility decline during its demographic transition. As in wealthy countries, however, lowering the costs of first birth postponement produced important socio-economic gains, enabling young women to obtain more education and to work more and live independently later in life. Copyright © The Author(s). Journal compilation © Royal Economic Society 2009.