Empirical Analysis of Sex Selection for Married Women in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Yi-Wei Kung, 龔怡溦
• Other Authors: Pei-An, Liao
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/81205191101191099447

碩士 === 世新大學 === 經濟學研究所(含碩專班) === 100 === Along with women’s marital age delaying and educational attainment increased in Taiwan, women’s childbearing period becomes shorter and the fertility rate has been decreased. As a result, Taiwan’s sex ratio is quite imbalanced. For example, in2011, the sex ratio at birth is higher than 109, which is the ninth highest in the world. The imbalanced sex ratio at birth causes problems, such as the imbalanced marital market, increasing foreign brides, and other social problems. Late marriage, low birth rate, and the technology of artificial reproduction may cause Taiwan's women to choose children's sex before pregnancy. For example, they can use food control, X-Y Enrichment, and vaginal washing to choose children's sex. This study uses 2008 Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Contraception, the data set from National Bureau of Health Promotion. The probit model is employed to understand married women’s sex selection behaviors in Taiwan. This study finds that more educated women are more likely to have sex selection in first birth. Older age, higher income, and first baby is a girl increase the probability of sex selection in second birth. If first and second births are both girls, in third birth, sex selection is significantly observed. Based on the empirical findings in this study, the married women in Taiwan clearly have the sex selection behavior in order to have a boy.