MEN MATTER - ADDITIVE AND INTERACTIVE GENDERED PREFERENCES AND REPRODUCTIVE-BEHAVIOR IN KENYA

The extent of men's roles in reproductive decision-making in Africa is a subject of contention. Despite the volume of work on the roles men play in fertility decisions, there have been few attempts to derive di rect empirical estimates of the effect of men's preferences on reprodu ctive behavior. I employ 1989 and 1993 Kenya Demographic and Health Su rveys to examine the relative roles of the reproductive preferences of males and females on contraceptive use. Additive and interactive meas ures of preferences document a significant effect of men's preferences , which may eclipse women's preferences. The implications of these fin dings are discussed.