TY  - JOUR
AU  - Doepke,Matthias
AU  - Hazan,Moshe
AU  - Maoz,Yishay
TI  - The Baby Boom and World War II: A Macroeconomic Analysis
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 13707
PY  - 2007
Y2  - December 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13707
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13707.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Matthias Doepke
Northwestern University
Department of Economics
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
Tel: 847-491-8207
E-Mail: doepke@northwestern.edu

Moshe Hazan
Department of Economics
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mt. Scopus
Jerusalem 91905
Israel
Tel: 972-2-5881635
Fax: 972-2-5816071
E-Mail: moshe.hazan@huji.ac.il

Yishay Moaz
University of Haifa
Department of Economics
University of Haifa
Haifa 31905
Israel
E-Mail: ymaoz@econ.haifa.ac.il
AB  - We argue that one major cause of the U.S. postwar baby boom was the increased demand for female labor during World War II. We develop a quantitative dynamic general equilibrium model with endogenous fertility and female labor-force participation decisions. We use the model to assess the long-term implications of a one-time demand shock for female labor, such as the one experienced by American women during wartime mobilization. For the war generation, the shock leads to a persistent increase in female labor supply due to the accumulation of work experience. In contrast, younger women who turn adult after the war face increased labor-market competition, which impels them to exit the labor market and start having children earlier. In our calibrated model, this general-equilibrium effect generates a substantial baby boom followed by a baby bust, as well as patterns for age-specific labor-force participation and fertility rates that are consistent with U.S data.
ER  -