Fertility differences in Peru: A reconsideration

Abstract

In a series of articles by Stycos, Heer and W. H. James, predominantly Indian areas of Peru were reported to have significantly lower levels of fertility than the economically better developed Spanish-speaking areas. Heer and James reported similar findings for Bolivia and Ecuador as well as Peru.

Shortly after this paper was submitted for publication the author received a pre-publication copy of a related paper by Lawrence Whitehead — ‘Altitude, fertility and mortality in Andean countries’, Population Studies, 22, 3 (November 1968). Whitehead's paper and mine supplement, rather than contradict, one another, particularly since his focus is on Bolivia. References to his work appear frequently in the following pages. The following report is taken in part from the author's unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, ‘Human Fertility and Altitude in Peru: A Methodological Appraisal’ (Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Brown University, 1968). The author wishes to thank Professor Robert G. Potter of Brown University for his advice at all stages of the research, and Professor Harley L. Browning of the University of Texas for his reading and criticism of the present paper.

Shortly after this paper was submitted for publication the author received a pre-publication copy of a related paper by Lawrence Whitehead — ‘Altitude, fertility and mortality in Andean countries’, Population Studies, 22, 3 (November 1968). Whitehead's paper and mine supplement, rather than contradict, one another, particularly since his focus is on Bolivia. References to his work appear frequently in the following pages. The following report is taken in part from the author's unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, ‘Human Fertility and Altitude in Peru: A Methodological Appraisal’ (Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Brown University, 1968). The author wishes to thank Professor Robert G. Potter of Brown University for his advice at all stages of the research, and Professor Harley L. Browning of the University of Texas for his reading and criticism of the present paper.

Notes

Shortly after this paper was submitted for publication the author received a pre-publication copy of a related paper by Lawrence Whitehead — ‘Altitude, fertility and mortality in Andean countries’, Population Studies, 22, 3 (November 1968). Whitehead's paper and mine supplement, rather than contradict, one another, particularly since his focus is on Bolivia. References to his work appear frequently in the following pages. The following report is taken in part from the author's unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, ‘Human Fertility and Altitude in Peru: A Methodological Appraisal’ (Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Brown University, 1968). The author wishes to thank Professor Robert G. Potter of Brown University for his advice at all stages of the research, and Professor Harley L. Browning of the University of Texas for his reading and criticism of the present paper.