On allocating resources for fertility reduction in developing countries

Summary Substantial resources are currently being devoted in attempts to reduce fertility in developing countries. Can their allocation be made more efficient, i.e. more effective per unit of investment? This is an exploratory attempt to apply benefit-cost analysis to various realistic interventions, as judged by knowledgeable experts in the absence of sound empirical information on such impacts. (Such judgements appear to represent essentially the same sort of judgements as are made by policy-makers in the field). The paper concentrates on the methods by which several such analyses are made and illustrates the difficulties and problems encountered, but it also presents certain findings and conclusions of substance that show what results can be derived.