"Family Planning and Ethnic Heritage : Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa"
with Arcangelo Dimico and Chiara Falco

Abstract :
Using ethnographic, ecological, and folklore data for sub-Saharan Africa, we investigate the role played by postpartum sexual abstinence, an extensively documented practice that in preindustrial societies finds its biological justification as a means to safeguard child survival. We show that the duration of contemporary postpartum abstinence increases with that of ancestral postpartum sex taboos within a woman’s ethnic group ; raises fertility ; lengthens birth intervals though not sufficiently to meet recommended guidelines ; is detrimental for children’s health ; is associated with lower age at first birth and female disempowerment ; and is adopted
as a purification ritual, out of respect of ancestral traditions.