We examine the Zika outbreak in Colombia in 2015 to determine how a negative shock, which poses a high risk to the health of newborns, affects female behaviours related to fertility based on their marital status.
Whereas 40-49 years old single women reduced their sexual activity (the extensive margin), on average married women did not; instead, married women increased the use of contraceptives in both the extensive and intensive margins (they substituted less effective methods for more effective ones). This result is consistent with the moral hazard model of fertility decisions of a couple.
According to the model, not having a child may aggrieve the husband, and he may become a 'difficult' husband. From the perspective of the model, due to the Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic, women will use more contraceptives, and the likelihood of men’s retaliation will reduce.
We find no significant effects on intrahousehold violence exerted by men (i.e., physical and psychological violence or forced sex) nor a reduction in the proportion of expenditures made by women. We find that husbands of older women are less likely to have other sexual partners. There are heterogeneous effects across age groups and education levels.
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More information on this seminar can be found on VERBseminar.org. Registration is required and can also be done there.
Organisers
- Tinna Laufey Ásgeirsdóttir (University of Iceland)
- Ana Inés Balsa (Universidad de Montevideo)
- John Cawley (Cornell University)
- Hans van Kippersluis (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
