Gender preference and birth spacing in Matlab Bangladesh.

Does gender preference particularly son preference really affect fertility? It is a long-debated policy issue. The argument made in this paper is that the impact of gender preference of any nature is only observed when a society is in demographic transition. This paper uses data from a longitudinal study conducted over a 5-year period to examine the effects of gender preference on subsequent fertility in Matlab Bangladesh. Matlab is a traditional society with strong son preference where fertility has declined markedly in the 1980s. Hazard model analysis is employed to estimate the net effect of gender preference. No significant impact of gender preference on subsequent fertility is observed among the women who did not use contraception during the period of observation. Among the users of contraception it is observed that for a given number of children the number of surviving sons has a significant and negative effect on the risk of subsequent birth. The effect becomes stronger with increased contraceptive use. Findings suggest that preference for sons represents a significant barrier to fertility decline in Bangladesh. (authors)