This study tests the female education threshold hypothesis which posits that there is a critical level of educational attainment beyond which fertility begins to decline from traditional high levels. Using data from a sample of currently married women of child bearing ages 15-49 in rural Sierra Leone, non linear regression analyses reveal a threshold value of six years of schooling for rural women, varying substantially within and between subgroups of the population. Women below and above the threshold value exhibited the expected positive and negative coefficients on fertility respectively, even after controlling for a variety of variables known to influence fertility such as maternal age, tribal and religious affiliations, household income and size of place of residence. / The relationship between proximate variables and threshold level was also examined. The findings show that the combination of proximate determinants through which female education operates to produce the expected negative effects on fertility for women above the threshold, also holds in varying combinations for different subgroups of the population. / Overall this study suggests that further advances in understanding the relationship between fertility and the female education threshold concept could be enhanced by a closer look at segmented threshold levels derived from subgroups of the population and the role played by proximate determinants in this relationship. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-07, Section: A, page: 2752. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75857 |
| Contributors | BAILEY, MOHAMED STAN OJAO., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 115 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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