SON PREFERENCE IN VIETNAM

This article assesses the strength of son preference in Vietnam, as re flected infertility behavior. It formulates and estimates a proportion al hazards model applied to birth intervals, and a contraceptive preva lence model, using household survey data from 2,636 ever-married women aged 15-49 with at least one living child who were interviewed for th e Vietnam Living Standards Survey 1992-1993. Son preference is found t o be strong by world standards, but nevertheless, it has a minor effec t on fertility; in its absence, the total fertility rate would fall by roughly 10 percent from the current level of about 3.2 children per w oman of reproductive age.