The Long-Term Effect of Abortion Legalization on the Demand for Pets

23 Pages Posted: 14 Dec 2012 Last revised: 25 Nov 2013

See all articles by Youjin Hahn

Youjin Hahn

Yonsei University

Liang Choon Wang

Monash University - Department of Economics

Hee-Seung Yang

Yonsei University

Date Written: Sepember 23, 2013

Abstract

This paper examines whether abortion legalization in the United States during the early 1970s influenced women’s demand for pets later in life. We compare women who were granted early access to legal abortion during their peak childbearing years to women who were not in order to estimate their likelihood of pet ownership and time spent on pets after the women’s childbearing years were over. We find that the probability of owning any pet is approximately nine percentage points higher for women affected by abortion legalization than for non-affected women, and that the affected women spend, on average, seven minutes more per day on their pets.

Keywords: abortion legalization, fertility, pet, substitutes

JEL Classification: J13, J22

Suggested Citation

Hahn, Youjin and Wang, Liang Choon and Yang, Hee-Seung, The Long-Term Effect of Abortion Legalization on the Demand for Pets (Sepember 23, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2188197 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2188197

Youjin Hahn

Yonsei University ( email )

Seoul
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

Liang Choon Wang (Contact Author)

Monash University - Department of Economics ( email )

Wellington Road
Clayton, Victoria
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/liangchoonwang/

Hee-Seung Yang

Yonsei University ( email )

50 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu
Seoul, 03722
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
82 2 2123 2480 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/heeseungyang/