A Dynamic Structural Model of Contraceptive Use and Employment Sector Choice for Women in Indonesia

Uma Radhakrishnan, University of Virginia and U.S. Census Bureau

The average number of children for a woman in Indonesia dropped more than 50 percent between 1960s and the mid 1990s. A large part of this reduction in the total fertility rate has been attributed to the extensive family planning program that was initiated in the late 1960s. This research, within a discrete choice dynamic structural framework, investigates the impact of the Indonesian Family Planning Program on the joint labor force participation decisions and contraceptive choices of women. The choices made by a woman depend on the compatibility between raising children and the sector of employment. The primary source of data for this study is the first wave of the Indonesia Family Life Survey. I use the geographic expansion and the changing nature of the family planning program as sources of exogenous variation to provide identification. The structural nature of my model allows me to conduct interesting policy experiments.