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The trade-off between child quantity and child quality in Malaysia

Abdul Razak, Nor Azam and Abdul Hakim, Roslan and Abd Karim, Mohd Zaini (2011) The trade-off between child quantity and child quality in Malaysia. Project Report. Universiti Utara Malaysia. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The child quantity-quality (CQQ) trade-off theory asserts that the discrepancy in the bahavior of households regarding the quantity and quality of their children is due to their standards of living: while low-income households tend to choose child quantity at the expense of child quality, the converse is true for high-income households.In the past,a huge body of empirical literature generally found evidence in favor of the theory.In recent years, however, some influential work has revisited the issue and found evidence against the theory.It has been argued that this new finding can be attributed to the level of development of the country under study: if the empirical work is conducted in a developed country, then the CQQ trade-off is unlikely to be applicable since the generous public provision of education in the country serves to undermine the trade-off.With the benefit of hindsight, it turns out that Malaysia lends itself as an intriguing case study: although it is a developing country, its education system is highly subsidized; thus, the CCQ trade-off is probably unlikely to be applicable.It should also need to be recognized that specific segments of the population in Malaysia (namely, the poor, the Malay, and the rural)might hold values and norms that are at odds with the theory, thereby rendering the CQQ trade-off to be less likely to be applicable to them.Accordingly, this research aims to investigate whether the CQQ trade off a)is applicable to the Malaysian households in general, b) differs between low- and high-income households, c) differs between Malay and non-Malay households, and d) differs between rural and urban households.Using a sample of 1240 children from a household survey in several selected areas in Malaysia in 2010, we conduct an empirical analysis on the CQQ trade-off theory.As expected, we find insufficient evidence of the CQQ trade-off for the Malaysian households in general.In addition, we also fine some evidence of the CQQ trade-off for the high-income as well as the urban households.

Item Type: Monograph (Project Report)
Additional Information: Kod S/O: 11912
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Divisions: School of Economics, Finance & Banking
Depositing User: Dr. Nor Azam Abdul Razak
Date Deposited: 10 Jun 2013 07:22
Last Modified: 21 Apr 2016 04:40
URI: https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/8150

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