Polygynous Fertility: Sexual Competition Versus Progeny

Abstract

Three theoretical explanations for the effects of polygyny on marital fertility are investigated through an analysis of birth intervals in polygynous marriages of a 19th-century Utah population. Through the use of life-course fertility histories, behavior among polygynous wives is shown to depend on the number of children born to all wives rather than on biological factors such as the competition among greater numbers of wives for reproductive attention or age related infecundity. When biological effects are controlled, a greater (lesser) number of children born to earlier wives reduces (increases) fertility of more recent wives later in their life courses. Thus, it is argued that largely data-driven studies of polygyny may benefit from fertility theory, which emphasizes the role of the demand for children.

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