CONTRACEPTIVE DETERMINANTS IN 3 LEADING COUNTRIES

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative importance of acc ess to family planning and the motivation to restrict fertility in det ermining contraceptive use in three countries that have led the fertil ity transitions in their regions: Colombia, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe. A s tructural equations model is estimated where endogenous fertility inte ntions are allowed to affect contraceptive method use. Simulation meth ods are then used to quantify the size of the impact of intentions and access on method choice for the three countries. The results demonstr ate that even after controlling for fertility intentions, family plann ing program variables still have important effects in all three countr ies.