A Comparative Study on Fertility Transitions in Developed and Developing Countries: Gap Analysis in Past Stimulus, Present Performances and Future Implications

There are comprehensible differentials in fertility transition in developed and developing countries. The broad objective of this paper is to carry out a gap analysis in causes, performances and implications of fertility transitions in developed and developing countries and thereby to suggest benchmarks for these dimensions. The first objective deals with the trend in fertility decline in both groups of countries. Secondly, the gaps in causal factors of fertility transition have been examined. Thirdly, benchmarks of causal factors of fertility transitions on the basis of experiences of developed countries have been proposed and thereby to compare and study the gaps between performance in fertility transitions by developing countries and benchmarks. Lastly, both short-term and long-term implications of fertility transitions on demographic, social and economic aspects in developing countries have been examined. Findings reveal that there are evidences of significant heterogeneous gaps in all aspects of fertility transitions in developing countries.