An analysis of reproductive behaviour in Canada: Results from an intertemporal optimizing model

Results based on a sample of Canadian households challenge the findings of most studies which show significant negative effects of schooling on the fe rtility of women under the age of 45. This is due to the application of met hods to an optimization model which distinguish between those households wh ich have completed their reproductive behaviour from those which have not. Completion status and the desired number of children are used to infer char acteristics of the optimal programme which are then employed to derive a li kelihood function. Traditional demographic methods have so far not fully ut ilized the distinction between incomplete and completed households in sampl e surveys. These methods also lead to the conclusion that completed fertili ty had increased from its all time low in the nineteen seventies. JEL class ification: C24, C25, J13.