Religion as a determinant of marital fertility.

PIP: Hypotheses are developed about the effects of husbands' and wives' religious affiliations upon fertility. The hypotheses are based upon the following ideas. First, different religions have different norms about fertility and the tradeoffs between the quality and quantity of children. Differences in religious beliefs between spouses may therefore lead to disagreement and conflict over fertility decisions and any possible resolution through bargaining. Second, a low level of religious compatibility between spouses may increase the probability of marital dissolution, decreasing the optimal amount of investments in spouse-specific human capital. Analyses of data from the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households conducted in the US suggest that both of these effects are important factors in explaining the observed linkages between the religious composition of marital unions and their fertility behavior.^ieng

The determinants of marital stability: a comparative analysis of first and higher-order marriages.

"This study examines similarities and differences in the determinants of stability for first marriages and remarriages. Focusing primarily on the role of investments in marriage-specific human capital, the paper develops several hypotheses about the effects of children from the current marriage, children from previous unions, and home-production skills. The empirical results, based on white and black respondents from the 1982 [U.S.] National Survey of Family Growth, are generally consistent with the hypotheses and underscore the importance of marriage-specific human capital as a determinant of union stability."

Religion as a determinant of marital stability.

Using data from the 1987-1988 National Survey of Families and Households, this paper studies the role of the religious composition of unions as a determinant of marital stability. With the exceptions of Mormons and individuals with no religious identification, stability is found to be remarkably similar across the various types of homogamous unions. Consistent with the notion that religion is a complementary marital trait, interfaith unions have generally higher rates of dissolution than intrafaith unions. The destabilizing effect of out-marriage varies inversely with the similarity in beliefs and practices of the two religions as well as with the mutual tolerance embodied in their respective doctrines. The results also suggest that religious compatibility between spouses at the time of marriage has a large influence on marital stability, rivaling in magnitude that of age at marriage and, at least for Protestants and Catholics, dominating any adverse effects of differences in religious background.

The effect of education on the practice of nursing.

This study examines the influence of investments in education on the nature of activities performed on the job. Specifically, attention is focused on whether registered nurses (RNs) with a baccalaureate degree differ from graduates of other programs entailing less schooling in the frequency with which they perform various nursing functions. Results of an ordered probit model using data from the 1986 Biennial Survey of Illinois RNs show that baccalaureate nurses perform high skill functions more often, indicating that education does influence the nature of work activities. Combined with the finding in previous studies that baccalaureate nurses earn significantly higher wages, these results suggest that the labor market differentiates among nurses by education, raising questions about the need to change current licensure laws on informational grounds.

On marriage-specific human capital: its role as a determinant of remarriage.

"This paper focuses on the determinants of the likelihood and timing of remarriage for women: which characteristics of women and their first unions are conducive to quick remarriage and which are associated with low remarriage probabilities?... By analyzing the role of transferable marriage-specific capital as an asset, the present paper suggests a reinterpretation of past results and shows that such human capital constitutes an important component of women's gains from remarriage....[It] studies the determinants of remarriage separately for white and black women. The effects of the duration of first union and the presence of children from that union on remarriage probabilities are found to differ by race, results which can be interpreted within the context of the model developed here." Data from the 1982 U.S. National Survey of Family Growth are used to test the model.

Child care arrangements and fertility: an analysis of two-earner households.

The determinants of child care arrangements and relations between child care and fertility are examined using data on two-earner households from the 1976 National Survey of Family Growth. We find that the probability of relying on market arrangements is higher among families in which the husband's income, the wife's wage, and the level of the wife's labor supply are high; these households are likely to benefit the most from subsidies to the market forms of care that are small relative to the total cost of care (e.g. the present system of tax credits). In addition, parental education, family size, child's age, race, religion, and place of residence have important influences on the choice of child care mode. When other factors are held constant, reliance on a relative for child care is positively associated with intentions to have further children among couples with infants and preschoolers.