An Information Strategy for Improving Population Policy in Low-Income Countries.

William Butz, T. P. Schultz

Expert InsightsPublished 1972

Indicates the data needed to improve population policies. The economic theory of fertility behavior, though in an early stage of development, has already outstripped the power of existing data to confirm or deny its hypotheses. Without better data, researchers may be unable to identify the environmental factors that affect couples' reproductive choices and that might be influenced by direct and indirect population policies. Three types of information are needed: (1) the characteristics of individual family members and how they use their time and other resources in market and nonmarket activities, (2) the changes in those families' behavior during their lifetime, and (3) the policy and environmental variables that influence families' choices. Household surveys to elicit those data should be independent of public programs; the survey data may later be linked to program information concerning family planning, education, and health. 19 pp. Bibliog.

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Butz, William and T. P. Schultz, An Information Strategy for Improving Population Policy in Low-Income Countries. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1972. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P4802.html.
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