Intrahousehold Decision Making and Fertility Choices in Rural Senegal and Uganda
通过选择实验方法，研究塞内加尔和乌干达农村夫妻的生育偏好，发现个体偏好不能替代家庭决策，且决策模式存在地区差异，对家庭计划政策设计有参考价值。
Feminist economic approaches have transformed mainstream economic analysis to better account for intrahousehold decision making. To quantify decision making, studies resort to self-reported survey-based measures, derived from questions directed to household members, or proxy-variable methods. This study uses a choice experiment, a stated preference method, implemented in rural Senegal and Uganda and specifically distinguishes between individual and household choices to analyze spouses’ preferences on fertility and child raising and calculate a decision-making coefficient. Findings show individual fertility preferences of men and women cannot substitute for household-level choices, and intrahousehold decision making concerning fertility and child raising is region specific. While in Uganda household fertility choices reflect a balance between the spouses’ fertility preferences, in Senegal these choices seem more dominated by the husband’s preference. This study demonstrates the importance of considering the adequate decision-making unit when designing family planning and child-centered programs and of using a region-specific approach.HIGHLIGHTS Analyzing spousal fertility and child-raising choices provides an alternative to traditional proxies for intrahousehold decision making.Choice experimental data and methods enables the calculation of a decision-making coefficient.Individual fertility preferences cannot substitute for household-level choices.Considering the adequate gender and decision-making unit is crucial in designing family planning programs.