Search Results
Author: Forsstrom, Matthew P.
Resulting in 2 citations.
| 1. |
Forsstrom, Matthew P. |
|
Abortion Costs and Single Parenthood: A Life-Cycle Model of Fertility and Partnership Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2017 Cohort(s): NLSY97 Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) Keyword(s): Abortion; Fertility; Geocoded Data; Legislation; Life Cycle Research; Parents, Single; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. I construct and estimate a life-cycle model of fertility and partnership behavior to examine the relationship between abortion restrictions and single parenthood. In addition to the direct effects of abortion policy on abortion decisions and sexual behavior, the model nests two channels relating abortion policy to partnership that have been discussed in the literature. First, upon becoming pregnant, a woman may realize information about the father's commitment to a relationship. A change in abortion policy impacts the number of women who become pregnant and realize such information. Second, abortion policy impacts competition in the market for partners. In a model of dynamic partnership transitions and fertility decisions, these mechanisms may have immediate effects on behavior and outcomes as well as effects that manifest over time. The estimated model is used to simulate the impacts of removing three types of abortion restrictions: Medicaid-funding restrictions, mandatory delay and counseling laws, and parental consent laws. I find that removing Medicaid-funding restrictions and parental consent laws results in a decrease in unwed motherhood by causing some pregnant women to switch from giving birth to aborting, while having small impacts on the availability of partners. In contrast, the removal of mandatory counseling and delay laws slightly increases unwed motherhood by having a relatively larger impact on the relationship between sexual activity and partnership alternatives. |
|
|
Bibliography Citation
Forsstrom, Matthew P. Abortion Costs and Single Parenthood: A Life-Cycle Model of Fertility and Partnership. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2017. |
| 2. |
Forsstrom, Matthew P. |
|
Abortion Costs and Single Parenthood: A Life-Cycle Model of Fertility and Partnership Behavior Labour Economics published online (20 February 2021): 101977. Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537121000129 Cohort(s): NLSY97 Publisher: Elsevier Keyword(s): Abortion; Family Structure; Geocoded Data; Human Capital; Legislation; Parents, Single; Pregnancy, Adolescent I estimate a structural model that nests four channels through which abortion costs impact partnership and fertility. Variation in parental consent laws helps to identify the relative importance of each theoretical channel, and simulations decompose total policy effects into theoretical channels. Results indicate that the largest effect of parental consent laws is on the abortion decision for pregnant minors. But there are also meaningful effects on marriage opportunities for pregnant minors and on sexual and contraceptive behavior. These effects combine to impact family structure and human capital accumulation over the life-cycle. Simulations show that parental consent laws reduce the accumulation of human capital via impacts of children on school attendance and also increase the probability that women spend time as unwed mothers. A counterfactual abortion ban is predicted to increase birth rates at all ages and subsequently increase unwed motherhood and reduce schooling. |
|
|
Bibliography Citation
Forsstrom, Matthew P. "Abortion Costs and Single Parenthood: A Life-Cycle Model of Fertility and Partnership Behavior." Labour Economics published online (20 February 2021): 101977.
|