Determinants of fertility in developing countries

International research awards program

A program of the scope and duration of the International Research Awards Program on the Determinants of Fertility in Developing countries depended upon the talents of more than 100 people to achieve its objective, the funding of innovative research to advance the understanding of the determinants of fertility behavior and ultimately contribute to the formulation of population policies.
The Program was initiated as a cooperative agreement between the Population Council and the United States Agency for International Development in September 1980. The Program was complementary to the activities of the three-year Panel on Fertility Determinants of the Committee an Population and Demography sponsored by the United States National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, an effort also financed by A.I.D. As part of its activities, the NAS panel undertook a review and identification of the key variables contributing to fertility change in developing nations; examined appropriate measurement and analytical techniques; investigated the proximate determinants of fertility; prepared country studies; and developed a research agenda for the field.
These activities of the Panel, chaired by W. Parker Mauldin of the Rockefeller Foundation and directed by Robert J. Lapham of the National Research Council, provided the basis for the two-volume compendium on the Determinants of Fertility in Developing Countries published by the National Academy Press and Academic Press. This review indicated a number of research areas which needed further analysis, including topics related to the supply of and demand for children, fertility regulation and its costs, fertility decision making, nuptiality, and the effects of social institutions.