Women's reproductive rights, modernization, and family planning programs in developing countries: a causal model.
by Vijayan K. Pillai , Guang-Zhen Wang Women's reproductive rights is a current issue of major concern internationally. International discussions on women's rights closely examine the association between strategies of family planning programs in developing countries and reproductive rights. The rhetoric of reproductive rights is, however, contingent on the political and legal domains. Empirical studies on the effects of family planning programs and socioeconomic development on women's reproductive rights are few. Sjoberg and Vaughan (1993) state that American sociologists have ignored a fundamental empirical issue of "rights" which has a far-reaching cross-national or cross-cultural significance, and to which they are capable of making a substantial theoretical and empirical contribution. It is still not clear whether family planning programs and/or socioeconomic development play a part in the attainment of women's reproductive rights in developing countries. The purpose of this article is to develop a social structural model of reproductive rights using data from 101 developing countries. Toward a Sociological Model: Explanations of Women's Reproductive Rights Family planning programs in developing countries attempt to reduce birth rates. Modernization theories have been used extensively to explain fertility phenomena. However, studies on the effects of family planning programs and modernization processes on women's reproductive rights have been few. The theoretical model involves three major explanations of women's reproductive rights: population growth, women's education, and gender equality. Population Growth Explanation It was not until recently that the relationship between fertility decline and women's reproductive rights became a hotly debated topic both in academia and in international conventions. The relationship is, however, left underexplored empirically. How does limiting the number of children borne influence the exercise of women's reproductive rights? First, limiting or avoiding births enables women to exercise more freedom within marriages or consensual unions. Women who delay or avoid births can bring about significant economic advantages over women with large families when terminating a conjugal or consensual union. Having a small family can improve a woman's ability to end an unsatisfactory relationship at a low personal cost (Dixon-Mueller, 1993). Having a large family, on the contrary, intensifies a woman's vulnerability and limits her capacity to exercise equal rights with a man during marriage or at its dissolution. Second, limiting or avoiding births enables women to exercise their political rights as more and more women engage in extra familial activities. The geneses of the social stigma in terms of women's reproductive rights originate from the "culture of silence," the powerlessness of women as a group in society. Petchesky (1990) states that the right to choose means little when women are powerless as a group in the society. Population growth has negative effect on women's reproductive rights. The slower the population growth, the more the women's reproductive rights. One of the major components of fertility decline is the "modern contraceptive revolution" fueled by family planning programs world wide. Family planning programs lower the market costs by providing free information about birth control and supplying services free or below cost. In addition, these programs reduce subjective costs by lending legitimacy to practicing birth control (Easterlin, 1975). Lapham and Mauldin (1985) show that family planning program efforts in developing countries have brought about fertility decline even in the absence of social and economic development. Family planning program effort has negative effect on population growth. The greater the family planning program effort, the slower the population growth. A second factor that affects population growth is social and economic development brought about by modernization. Modernization is perhaps one of the most important agent of change in the social structure and functions of social institutions at a global level in the 20th century. Although modernization processes follow different patterns in different countries, the characteristics of the modernization processes are common to all (Kerr, et al., 1960). The development of science and technology with the accompanying modernization process has four outcomes. First, industrialization brings about a shift in employment patterns. The percentage of the labor force in agriculture decreases and proportion engaged in industry and services increases. The increasing rate of urbanization provides more alternatives for employment, and opportunities for social mobility. Easterlin and Crimmins (1985) state that urbanization and the shift in employment patterns from agriculture to industry or service reduce the demand for children by lowering the price of goods relative to children, and increasing alternative life chances. Secondly, the change from a primitive subsistence village economy to a semi-modern or modern town economy results in an increase in the division of labor. The social relations created by the more refined division of labor imply new hierarchial relations in the work situation. Having children per se rarely satisfies an end in itself but is generally a means to other ends (Coale, 1973). The perceived advantages of having fewer children may lead to fertility decline. Thirdly, changes in social relationships due to urbanization and labor force growth in industry and service, result in changes in life style and family structure. The spread of conjugal and nuclear families and the demand for leisure time have reduced the motivation for having large families. Finally, changes in social relations and social structures as well as the development of science and technology tend to bring about changes in belief systems and women's status in the society. Nearly everywhere in the world, the more-educated women are more likely to have small families (Weeks, 1994). Industrialization turns the cost-benefit ratio of children upside down. Socioeconomic development has negative effect on population growth. The higher the levels of socioeconomic development the slower the population growth. Another factor that affects population growth is women's education. One of the direct consequences of the increase in women's education is the decline in fertility. The relationship between women's educational level and fertility is compelling. "A woman's schooling is the strongest determinant of her contraceptive knowledge and use, especially in high fertility countries." (Dixon-Mueller, 1993: 121) Most studies show that the educational level of the wife is more strongly and inversely correlated with a couple's fertility than is the educational level of the husband after controlling for other influences (Cleland and Rodriguez, 1988). Women's education affects fertility in three ways; first, by delaying marriage and increasing the probability of non-marriage; second, by creating aspirations for a higher level of living; and finally, by stimulating interest and involvement in activities outside home. Women's education promotes concerns about child quality (Becker, 1960), fosters individualistic values (Lesthaeghe and Surkyn, 1988), and consumer aspirations (Easterlin, 1975, 1978) that reduce fertility independent of relative cohort size. Finally, women's education affects fertility by exposing women to knowledge, attitudes and practices favorable to birth control (Dixon-Mueller, 1993). Increase in the levels of women's education, therefore, may reduce the family size. Women's education has negative effect on population growth. The higher the educational levels of women, the slower the population growth rate. The level of population growth is related to gender equality. The extent of gender equality has a direct impact on women's ability to determine the number and spacing of their children. The relationship between gender equality and fertility, although it varies cross-nationally due to other factors such as kinship relations, has been found to be negative. Gender equality has negative effect on population growth. The higher the levels of gender equality, the slower the rate of population growth. Women's Education Explanation Education provides the means for people to obtain knowledge and change traditional value systems, which, in turn, enables women to gain independence and power in the society in order to ensure their reproductive rights. Women's education affects the attainment of reproductive rights in several ways. First, education enhances women's ability to selectively utilize a wide range of ideas and values for personal advancement. Ideas of "rights" that call for democratization and respect for individual freedom underscore the current definitions of being modem. Education can provide women with more opportunities to participate in the process of modernization and enable them to bring about changes in their economic and social situations. Education enhances the opportunities for women to organize themselves as a social group to challenge patriarchy and to win rights in the sphere of reproduction. These changes are brought about by women for women through education (Correa, 1994). Second, social and economic benefits are more likely to accrue when women acquire education and gain employment. This, in turn, offers women basic economic security, which is considered to be status-enhancing (or status-neutral) rather than status degrading. A positive change in women's economic status reinforces women's power to control their bodies and sexuality resulting in women's reproductive rights. Women's education has positive effect on women's reproductive rights. The higher the level of education, the greater the reproductive rights. The processes of modernization and economic development influence women's life chances in several ways. One of the most important effects of socioeconomic development is the increase in women's educational attainment. Economic development increases the demand for a skilled work force. Schooling, thus, becomes a prerequisite for both males and females to enter the modem world. Industrialization brings about development in public educational institutions. The accessibility and affordability of public education, and rising expectations among women improve women's educational participation. Socioeconomic development has positive effect on women's education. The higher the levels of socioeconomic development, the higher the levels of women's education. A factor that contributes to women's education is secularization. The secularization thesis points to at least two dimensions. The first dimension is the transformation from communities to societies,(2) and the second dimension is rationalization.(3) The Eleventh Congress of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, convened at the Free University of Brussels in Belgium in August 1990 holds that the process of secularization is rooted in the growth of liberty, equality, and fraternity in the society. The political and civil freedom due to secularization processes contributes to women's participation in educational and economic activities. Caldwell (1982) argues that the principal measure of secularization is education, which changes people's view of the world. The transition from community to society and the process of rationalization brought about by secularization of society thus enhance women's education attainment. Secularization has positive effect on women's education. The higher the levels of secularization, the higher the levels of women's education. Gender Equality Explanation Gender relations are embedded in social, economic, and political institutions and are reinforced by everyday social interactions. It follows that women's reproductive choice is influenced by the opportunity structures resulting from the interaction among individuals and the distribution of resources in the community. Perhaps the most fundamental threat to women's reproductive rights of self determination is the patriarchal family system (Dixon-Mueller, 1993). Mason and Palan (1981) define patriarchy as a set of social institutions that deny women the opportunity to be self-supporting and favor men in the intra-familial allocation of resources and power, thereby making women dependent on male relatives for survival. Gender inequality affects women's reproductive rights in the following ways. First, patriarchy is a social system where women are less valued than men. Secondly, gender inequalities are mirrored in women's limited opportunities for employment in comparison to men's. The disparity in employment between men and women reduces the economic independence on the part of women. The resource theory holds that the greater material and social resources a woman brings into her marriage relative to those of her husband, the greater is her power and influence over reproduction decision-making, controlling for woman's ideological orientation. Because women as a group have fewer social and human resources compared with men, women tend to have less power to decide on their reproductive behavior. Gender equality has positive effect on women's reproductive rights. The higher the level of gender equality, the higher the level of reproductive rights. Gender equality is affected by women's educational attainment. Women's educational attainment may enable them to have more resources in the society to help them gain equal status with their male counterparts. Education may also provide women with ideas that question traditional values and strive for equality and democracy in the society. Women's education has positive effect on gender equality. The higher the level of women's education, the greater the gender equality. Social and economic development affects gender equality. First, economic growth is, by and large, associated with an increased demand for labor and results in a social structure with more opportunities enabling more women to become wage earners. Secondly, women's participation in outside-home employment increases their economic independence and challenges the traditional image of women as merely child bearers and child rearers. The traditional roles as bearers and rearers of children conflict with their new extra-familial roles. Modernization theories suggest that social and economic development enhances gender equality by providing women access to key resources, such as education and paid employment, and by altering traditional family systems (Blumberg, 1991). Socioeconomic development has positive effect on gender equality. The higher the socioeconomic development, the greater the gender equality. Secularization is associated with gender equality. The secularization thesis argues that a growing social insignificance of religion, and an increase in the reliance on technology result from modernization. With the diminishing authority of religious institutions and widespread quest for cognitive and rational knowledge, the mythical and artistic interpretations of nature and society will be displaced by scientific and logical thinking that helps create the "age of reason." Traditional beliefs that guide people's action are replaced by practical and egalitarian beliefs. The processes of secularization thus entail a shift from religious to more secular control over people's everyday activities. The shift in beliefs and practices will result in a redefinition of roles and statuses of women away from traditional religious roles and social positions. Secularization has positive effect on gender equality. The higher the levels of social secularization, the higher the levels of gender equality. Figure 1 presents the hypothesized model. Measurement of the Variables and the Sources of Data The exogenous factors in this study are family planning program effort (FPP), socioeconomic development (SOE), and secularization of society (SEC). Lapham and Mauldin (1985) conceptualized family planning program effort as "the sum of policies adopted and implemented; the activities carried out to provide family planning knowledge, supplies, and services; the availability and accessibility of fertility regulation methods; and the monitoring and evaluation of all of these." (P. 120) Family planning program effort is measured by family planning effort scores and the prevalence of contraceptive use. Family planning program effort scores are obtained from Lapham and Mauldin's 30-item program effort scores (1989). The variable ranges from 0 to 120. Contraceptive prevalence is estimated for the year 1990 for all countries on the basis of available survey information (Ross, Mauldin, and Miller, 1993). The United Nations Development Program (1990) proposes that the Human Development Index (HDI) be the measurement of socioeconomic development. A maximum of 1.00 and a minimum of 0.00 are used to indicate high or low HDI.(4) The second indicator for socioeconomic development is agriculture as a percentage of the distribution of gross domestic product (GDP). It refers to the percentage of GDP spent on agriculture. The third factor is secularization. based on theories on secularization of society, the indicators are urban population as a percentage of total population, percentage of total population in cities with at least 1 million inhabitants, thousands % of labor force in agriculture, and percentage of adult literacy. The two indicators, urban population as a percentage of total population, and percentage of total population in cities with 1 million or more inhabitants are based on midyear population estimates. The intervening factors are women's education (WOE), gender equality (GED), and population growth (POP). The observed variables for women's education are percentage of adult female literacy and percentage of females of relevant age enrolled in secondary school. In contrast to the still commonly used concept, "women's status," the notion of gender equality points to the parities in the distribution of women and men in the central arenas of social life (Young, et al., 1994). The indicators for gender equality are female and male ratio of mean years of schooling, political and legal equality for women, and socioeconomic equality for women. The female-male ratios of mean years of schooling are obtained by dividing the female percentage by male percentage. A figure of more than I indicates the female average as being greater than the male's. The measures for political/legal and social/economic equality for women are obtained from Humana's World Human Rights Guide (1992). Discrete values ranging from 0 to 3 are used to code political/legal and social/economic equalities across nations. "0" (NO) indicates severe violations of freedoms and rights. "1" (no) indicates frequent violations of freedoms and rights. "2" (yes) qualifies otherwise satisfactory answers on the grounds of occasional breaches of respect for freedoms and rights. "3" (YES) represents respect for freedoms and rights. Population growth factor is measured by total fertility rate and average annual growth rate. The dependent factor is women's reproductive rights (WRR). The indicators of reproductive rights are legal abortion right; personal rights to interracial, interreligious, or civil marriages; personal rights for equality of the sexes during marriage and for divorce proceedings; personal rights to use contraceptive pills and devices; and support for the distribution of contraceptives. There are 3 categories of the legal status of abortion: illegal (no exception), legal for medical reasons, and legal for other reasons. The second category "legal for medical reasons" includes "life," "health," and "eugenic." The third category "legal for other reasons" includes "juridical," "socioeconomic," and "on request." Illegal is coded as 0. Each of the reasons in the second category and the first two of the third category weighs 1. Legal "on request" is coded as 6 since in countries where abortion is permitted Aon request," it is also permitted where necessary to protect women's lives or health, and on eugenic, juridical, and socioeconomic grounds (Ross, Mauldin, and Miller, 1993). Personal rights to interracial, interreligious, or civil marriage; for equality of sexes during marriage and for divorce proceedings; and to use contraceptive pills and devices are operationalized as 0 to 3. "0" (NO) indicates a constant pattern of violations of the freedoms and fights. "1" (no) indicates frequent violations of the freedoms and rights. "2" (yes) qualifies otherwise satisfactory answers on the grounds of occasional breaches of respect for the freedoms and rights. "3" (YES) represents the respect for the freedoms, fights, or guarantees of the article or indicator of the questionnaire. Support for the distribution of contraceptives is measured in terms of very low "1" to very high "4". The cross-national analysis involves 101 developing countries as defined by the World Bank (1994).(5) The sources for this study's data are presented in Table 1. | |
Table 1
Data Sources for the Variables
Variables Sources
Family planning Ross, A.J., W.P. Mauldin, and V.C.
program effort scores Miller. 1993. Family Planning and
Population: A Compendium of
International Statistics.
Contraceptive prevalence Ross, A.J., W.P. Mauldin, and V.C.
Miller. 1993. Family Planning and
Population: A Compendium of
International Statistics.
Human development index United Nations Development Programme.
1992. Human Development Report.
% agriculture in GDP World Resources Institute. 1992. World
Resources 1992-93. World Bank. 1994.
Social Indicators of Development.
Urban population as a % World Resources Institute. 1992. World
of total population Resources 1992-93. World Bank. 1993.
World Tables.
% total pop. in cities w/at World Resources Institute. 1992. World
least 1 million inhabitants Resources 1992-93.
% labor force in World Bank. 1994. Social Indicators of
agriculture Development.
Adult literacy rate World Resources Institute. 1992. World
Resources 1992-93.
Adult female literacy World Resources Institute. 1992. World
rate Resources 1992-93.
% female of relevant World Bank. 1994. World Development
age enrolled in Report. World Bank. 1994. Social
secondary schools Indicators of Development.
Female-male ratio of World Resources Institute. 1992. World
mean years of schooling Resources 1992-93.
Political-legal Humana, Charles. 1992. World Human
equality for women Rights Guide.
Social-economic Humana, Charles. 1992. World Human
equality for women Rights Guide.
Total fertility rate World Resources Institute. 1992. World
Resources 1992-93.
Average annual growth World Resources Institute. 1992. World
rate Resources 1992-93.
Legal abortion right Ross, A.J., W.P. Mauldin, and V.C.
Miller. 1993. Family Planning and
Population: A Compendium of
International Statistics.
Dixon-Mueller, Ruth. 1993. Population
Policy and Women's Rights.
Personal rights to Humana, Charles. 1992. World Human
interracial, interreligious Rights Guide.
or civil marriages
Personal rights for Humana, Charles. 1992. World Human
equality of sexes Rights Guide.
during marriage and for
divorce proceedings
Personal rights to use Humana, Charles, 1992. World Human
contraceptive devices Rights Guide.
and pills
Support for distribution of United Nations. 1995. Global
contraceptives Population Policy Data Base.
| | Results Table 2 presents a statistical description of all the variables used in this study. Family planning program effort scores in developing countries vary from zero to a coverage of 100.85.(6) The large variation in family planning program effort scores across nations indicates non-uniformity in the implementation of family planning programs in developing countries. In spite of the relatively high scores of family planning program effort, the contraceptive prevalence is fairly low. This suggests the need to improve the efficiency of family planning programs in order to increase contraceptive prevalence in most developing countries. The distribution of HDI scores suggests that most developing countries have low levels of human development.(7) Most developing nations are characterized by high levels of adult literacy rates. This may be due to the emphasis laid on literacy through country- and region-wide literacy programs. Most developing nations have low levels of urbanization and the proportion of the population in metropolitan areas with at least one million inhabitants are small. The low levels of urbanization and percentage agriculture in GDP suggest that there exists a great potential for urbanization in developing countries. The percentages of female secondary education are low in general. Most developing countries have low levels of social and economic equality. [TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 2 OMITTED] The mean for total fertility rate is slightly above 5 children. The mean of 2.053 for legal abortion rights implies that legal abortion rights in developing countries, on average, are granted on the basis of health concerns. The freedom for interracial, interreligious, or civil marriages, and personal rights for equality of the sexes during marriage and for divorce proceedings, on average, are fairly satisfactory except for occasional violations. There is almost no restriction imposed on contraceptive use in most developing countries. The descriptive analyses of the variables in the theoretical model reveal several notable characteristics of the developing nations. These countries have high rates of fertility, low levels of human development, and urbanization. The percentage agriculture in GDP is found to be low for most of the nations. Most countries in the developing world have a high percentage of adult literacy but the proportion enrolled in secondary schools is low. In terms of women's reproductive rights, the level of personal rights to use contraceptives, and the extent of support for contraceptive distribution are found to be at a satisfactory level in most developing countries. Personal rights for intermarriages, and equality during marriage and for divorce proceedings are found to be violated occasionally. Legal abortion right, meanwhile, in most developing countries is permitted only on life and health grounds rather than for social reasons. Table 3 presents the confirmatory factor analysis results. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to estimate the parameters of the measurement model. The measurement model consists of the relations between the observed variables and their constructs. In this study, factors are assigned a scale for measurement. Each latent factor shares a scale of "1" with one of its indicators. The parameter estimates (ML) suggest that all the factor loadings are high and significant. squared multiple correlations (SMC) are used to estimate the reliability of the observed variables in relation to the constructs. The value of SMC for PROGRAM is 0.901, which indicates that about 90 percent of the variance in family planning program effort scores may be accounted for by the latent construct, family planning program effort. Half of the observed variables have SMC values above 0.6. Indicators with SMC values below 0.3 are used on substantive grounds. The confirmatory factor analysis results provide reasonable empirical evidence of the construct validity of the proposed latent traits that are hypothesized to influence the indicators. Table 4 shows the structural portion of the model and illustrates the relations among the latent variables. The empirical findings provide partial support for population growth explanation. Family planning program effort and women's education have negative influences on population growth. Social development has no significant effect on population growth. Previous studies on the relationship between development and population growth in general have found a significant and negative effect. This may be due to the fact that this study uses HDI and percentage agriculture in GDP as indicators of socioeconomic development, while previous studies used per capita income as an indicator of social and economic development. [TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 3 OMITTED] | |
Table 4
Structural Model, LISREL Estimates (Maximum likelihood),
Unstandardized and Standardized Parameter Estimates (Standardized
estimates in parenthesis)
Exogenous Endogenous
Factors Factors
WOE GED POP WRR
FPP - - -.263(*) -
(-.261)
SOE 0.730(*) -1.009(*) 0.186 -
(0.700) (-.922) (0.185)
SEC 0.112 0.297 - -
(0.108) (0.271)
WOE - 1.428(*) -1.238(*) -1.314,
(1.360) (-1.281) (-1.781)
GED - - 0.283 1.010(*)
(0.308) (1.437)
POP - - - -.292
(-.382)
Total coefficient of determination for X-variables = 0.998
Total coefficient of determination for Y-variables = 0.999
Coefficient of determination for structural equations = 0.936
GFI 0.577
AGFI 0.462
RMSR 0.181
* p [less than or equal to] 0.01.
| | The estimated relationship between women's educational attainment and reproductive fights is significant and negative while a positive relationship is hypothesized. Socioeconomic development has a positive effect on women's education as hypothesized. Secularization, however, is not significantly associated with women's education. Thus, of the three hypotheses related to women's education explanation, two hypotheses are not supported. Gender equality is found to have positive effect on reproductive rights. Socioeconomic development in developing countries has a significant and negative effect on gender equality. Secularization has no significant positive effect on gender equality. Women's education increases gender equality as is expected. Thus, two of the four hypotheses related to gender equality explanation are supported. [TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 5 OMITTED] The role of secularization in bringing about changes in reproductive rights appears to be insignificant. None of the hypothesized relationships among secularization, women's education and gender equality are significant (See Table 5). The overall fit of the proposed model with data is not adequate. The goodness of fit index (GFI), and adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) are used to estimate the goodness of fit. GFI measure is not affected by sample size and is robust against departure from normality. Theoretically, GFI ranges from 0 to 1. A value closer to 1 indicates a better fit. A small difference between GFI and AGFI also indicates that the model fits well to the data. In this case, the value of GFI is 0.577. The value of AGFI is 0.462. The difference between GFI and AGFI is 0.115. Although the difference is not large, the proposed model does not adequately represent the data since both GFI and AGFI are small in magnitude. Table 5 shows the proposed and supported hypotheses. Figure 2 presents the reduced model containing only significant paths. The proposed model of reproductive rights presents population growth as the most proximate determinant of reproductive rights. Both gender equality and women's education are expected to influence reproductive rights through the population growth factor. However, the relationship between population growth and reproductive rights is found to be insignificant. In addition, women's education has a negative effect on reproductive rights. These findings considerably increase the importance of gender equality as it remains the only proximate determinant of reproductive rights with a positive significant effect. Decomposition of the total causal effects among the exogenous and endogenous factors are presented in Table 6. | |
Table 6
Decomposition of Causal Effects
Direct Indirect Total
POP-WRR -.292 - -.292
FPP-POP -.263 -.110 -.373
SOE-POP 0.186 -.894 -.708
WOE-POP -1.238 0.405 -.833
GED-POP 0.283 - 0.283
WOE-WRR -1.314 1.686 0.371
SOE-WOE 0.730 - 0.730
SEC-WOE 0.112 - 0.112
GED-WRR 1.010 -.083 0.928
WOE-GED 1.428 - 1.428
SOE-GED 1.009 1.042 0.033
SEC-GED 0.297 0.160 0.457
| | Gender equality in society has a strong direct and intervening effect on women's reproductive rights (total effect = 0.928). That gender equality is the single most important component in the model of reproductive rights supports Dixon-Mueller's (1993) argument that the structure of social opportunities women face is a crucial determinant of women's reproductive rights. Socioeconomic development has a positive influence on reproductive rights through women's education and gender equality. The indirect effect of socioeconomic development through gender equality alone is negative. The positive effect of socioeconomic development on reproductive rights is weak, which implies that women's reproductive rights in developing countries may not be realized without improving the levels of women's education and gender equality. Conclusions and Discussion Few development issues have aroused as much dissension both politically and academically as the relations among population growth, socioeconomic development, and women's reproductive rights in developing countries. The world is faced with a demographic momentum: "between 1990 and 2010 the world's population is likely to increase by one-third" (Dixon-Mueller, 1993:216). International concerns about the adverse effects of rapid population growth on economic development and environmental degradation especially in developing countries have been expressed in world conferences and conventions on population and development. Top-down family planning programs oriented toward finding a quick solution to population problems by focusing on quantitative objectives have aroused controversy because of "human rights abuse." Is there any alternative? This study proposes a theoretical model of women's reproductive rights in relation to family planning programs and modernization processes in developing nations. It is argued, on the one hand, that variations in reproductive rights in developing countries may be accounted for by broad social changes which may result in fertility decline, increase in the levels of women's education, and emergence of gender equality. These trends are seen as resulting from broad societal transformations brought about by economic development and secularization. On the other hand, the universality of anti-natalistic population policies in developing countries in the late 20th century provide a strong state-sponsored social control over fertility rate which may contribute to the attainment of women's reproductive rights. The results of the study provide partial support for the proposed model. The findings from 101 developing countries suggest that family planning programs have a significant negative effect on population growth, but the relationship between reproductive rights and population growth is not significant. Socioeconomic development has a significant and positive effect on women's education, but a negative effect on gender equality. The relationship between women's education and gender equality is significant and positive, but the relationship between women's education and reproductive rights is found to be negative. Gender equality has a significant and positive relationship with women's reproductive rights (see Figure 2). The empirical findings have several theoretical considerations and policy implications. First, although family planning programs and women's educational attainment reduce population growth rate in developing countries, they do not contribute positively to the level of women's reproductive rights in developing countries. That is, fertility decline due to anti-natalist policies and increase in women's education may slow down population growth in developing countries, but it does not necessarily lead to the achievement of women's reproductive rights. Second, the trajectories of modernization in many ways are increasing women's educational attainment. However, socioeconomic development is found to have a negative effect on gender equality. The empirical finding that women's education is negatively related to reproductive fights may be conjectured that women's education has only discretionary value during early stages of economic development in developing nations. Education may be more instrumental in achieving marital mobility than for acquiring personal rights and freedom. Malhotra et al. (1995) state that while women in most societies gain higher levels of education as a result of socioeconomic development, improvement in women's education may not result in reproductive rights if gender inequality prevails. Finally, gender equality emerges as the single most important component in the model of women's reproductive fights in developing countries. Gender equality has a positive and strong effect on reproductive rights. The finding supports Dixon-Mueller's argument that the crucial factor to affect reproductive choice is the structure of opportunities that are provided to women. This study has limitations. Our measurement of reproductive fights is based on the norms established by international conferences and conventions on human fights, women's fights, and reproductive fights. The definitions and meanings of reproductive fights may vary widely across cultures. These definitions may be used as a source for choosing new indicators for developing new scales of reproductive fights. NOTES 1 Ansley Coale (1973), in his revised approach to demographic transition, states that there are three preconditions for a substantial fertility decline: (1) the acceptance of calculated choice as a valid element in marital fertility, (2) the perception of advantages from reduced fertility, and (3) knowledge and mastery of effective techniques of control. 2 In his book Community and Society (1887, 1963. Translated and edited by Charles P. Loomis. New York: Harper and Row), German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies (1855-1936) referred to the social evolution from traditional society to modern (rational) society as Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. 3 Max Weber (1921) defined rationality on the basis of action. He differentiated between two types of rationality, means-ends and value rationality (Ritzer, 1996). 4 According to the United Nations Development Program 1992, Canada is ranked 1 with HDI value of 0.982. The lowest HDI value is 0.052 for Guinea of Sub-Saharan Africa. 5 One hundred and two countries are identified by the World Bank (1994) as developing countries, 39 in Sub-Saharan Africa, 24 in Latin America/Caribbean, 16 in Middle-East/North Africa, and 23 in Asia. Due to data unavailability, Taiwan was dropped from the study. 6 A figure of 120 means full coverage. 7 The United Nations Development Program (1992) divided human development index into three categories, high, medium, and low. For high human development, HDI is .800 or above; for medium human development, HDI values between .500 and .799; and for low human development, HDI is below .500. REFERENCES Anand, Sudhir 1994 "Population, Well-being, and Freedom." 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