Determinants of Reproductive Change in a Traditional Society: Evidence from Matlab, Bangladesh

Abstract

A decade has elapsed since a project was launched in Matlab, Bangladesh to test the hypothesis that contraceptive services can induce and sustain fertility decline in a rural traditional population. The demographic impact of this project has been pronounced, lending support to the view that supply-side policies can succeed even where institutional supports for demand are weak. This paper reviews the relationship between the Bangladesh climate of demand and the Matlab system of supply with the aim of explaining how such effects arise. A sociologically appropriate system of supply can induce fertility change in a society where such change would not spontaneously arise. The study of programs and the "sociology of the supply side" thus deserve the same degree of rigor accorded to research on the "sociology of demand."

Fertility, Child Work, and Schooling Consequences of Family Planning Programs: Evidence from an Experiment in Rural Bangladesh

“…The village level variation in the placement of the program is considered to represent a random experiment (Phillips, Simmons, Koenig and Chakraborty, 1988). 9 The treatment and control villages have similar economic conditions and at the start of the program had similar demographic conditions as well.…”

“…All currently married women residing in treatment villages receive the program treatment (Phillips, 1994). There is some diffusion of program information into control villages because of migration between the villages due to marriages (Phillips et al, 1988). 8 The demographic surveillance consists of periodic censuses, socioeconomic surveys and a continuous registration of all vital events, marital union-dissolution, household division and headship change in the study population.…”

“…Despite the attractiveness of experiments from the perspective of program evaluation, there have been very few program experiments in the area of family planning mostly because they are costly to design and implement (Schultz, 1974). The Taichung City experiment is the most well known truly (Phillips, Simmons, Koenig and Chakraborty, 1988). 2 The paper exploits this random nature of program placement to estimate the impact on fertility and on children's schooling and labor force participation.…”

Trends and Determinants of Contraceptive Method Choice in Kenya

“…Of particular program relevance is the notably higher levels of injectables use among rural women, women whose partners disapprove of family planning, uneducated women and those less exposed to family planning media messages, compared to their counterparts with better service accessibility and family planning information exposure. There is substantial evidence from existing literature that broadening the choice of contraceptive methods increases overall contraceptive prevalence (Freedman and Berelson, 1976;Phillips et al, 1988; Ja in, 1989). The provision of a wide range of contraceptive methods increases the opportunity for individual couples to obtain a method that suits their needs.…”

Constrained Contraceptive Choice: IUD Prevalence in Uzbekistan

“…3,4 Moreover, evidence indicates that contraceptive prevalence tends to increase if a wide variety of methods are available. 5,6 Within family planning programs, however, the decisions of institutional actors and the actions of health care providers can constrain contraceptive choices for women. In attempting to increase overall contraceptive prevalence, some national programs are charged with prescribing specific methods of contraception, rather than providing information aboutand access to-a variety of modern contraceptives.…”