The main part of this chapter discusses the household as a reproductive unit. It has nine sections: (1) income, fertility, and food – a discussion of the inverse relationship between fertility (and mortality) rates and income, and of population growth in relation to the (finite) environmental resource base; (2) the population growth problem; (3) population externalities: household versus societal reasoning; (4) birth control and female education; (5) children as consumer and insurance goods; (6) environmental degradation, and children as producer goods; (7) some special features of...

The main part of this chapter discusses the household as a reproductive unit. It has nine sections: (1) income, fertility, and food – a discussion of the inverse relationship between fertility (and mortality) rates and income, and of population growth in relation to the (finite) environmental resource base; (2) the population growth problem; (3) population externalities: household versus societal reasoning; (4) birth control and female education; (5) children as consumer and insurance goods; (6) environmental degradation, and children as producer goods; (7) some special features of sub‐Saharan Africa; (8) modelling fertility decisions; and (9) allocation failure and public policy. An extra and separate section (designated Chapter *12) gives theoretical presentations on two aspects of strategic complementarities in fertility decisions: (1) atmospheric externalities; and (2) Nash equilibria.