Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
This paper explores the causal link between income and fertility by analyzing womens fertility response to the large and permanent income shock generated by a husbands job displacement. I find that the shock reduces total fertility, suggesting that the causal effect of income on fertility is positive. A model that incorporates the time cost of children and assortative matching of spouses can simultaneously explain this result and the negative cross-sectional relationship. I also find that a husbands displacement accelerates childbearing, which is consistent with lifecycle models of fertility in which the incentive to delay is driven by expected earnings growth.