Data and Code for: The Negligible Effect of Free Contraception on Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Burkina Faso

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Pascaline Dupas, Princeton University; Seema Jayachandran, Princeton University; Adriana Lleras-Muney, University of California-Los Angeles; Pauline Rossi, École Polytechnique

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  BFAB_Replication 06/10/2025 09:28:AM
Final Graphs.do Unknown 19.9 KB 01/16/2025 11:31:AM
Table6_mainoutcome_interact.tex Unknown 2.3 KB 01/16/2025 11:31:AM
TableA11_mainout_belief_village.tex Unknown 4.9 KB 01/16/2025 11:31:AM

Project Citation: 

Dupas, Pascaline, Jayachandran, Seema, Lleras-Muney, Adriana, and Rossi, Pauline. Data and Code for: The Negligible Effect of Free Contraception on Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Burkina Faso. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2025. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-06-30. https://doi.org/10.3886/E215841V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary This package contains the survey data and documentation for “The Negligible Effect of Free Contraception on Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Burkina Faso,” by Pascaline Dupas, Seema Jayachandran,  Adriana Lleras-Muney,and Pauline Rossi. It contains all data and code necessary for replicating the tables and figures in the paper. The data files are in Stata (.dta), and the replication code was written in Stata. The abstract of the paper is as follows:

We conducted a randomized trial among 14,545 households in rural Burkina Faso to test the oft-cited hypothesis that limited access to contraception is an important driver of high fertility rates in West Africa. We do not find support for this hypothesis. Women who were given free access to modern contraception for three years did not have lower birth rates; we can reject even modest effects. We cross-randomized additional interventions to address inefficiencies that might depress demand for free contraception, specifically misperceptions about the child mortality rate and social norms. Free contraception did not significantly influence fertility even in combination with these interventions.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms family planning; Demographic transition; Social norms; Randomized trial
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
      J18 Demographic Economics: Public Policy
      O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Burkina Faso
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 9/1/2016 – 5/31/2021
Universe:  View help for Universe The villages within the catchment areas of 100 public health centers across 20 provinces in Burkina Faso
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) geographic information system (GIS) data; survey data


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Published Versions

V1 [2025-06-30]

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