I estimate a structural model that nests four channels through which abortion costs impact partnership and fertility. Variation in parental consent laws helps to identify the relative importance of each theoretical channel, and simulations decompose total policy effects into theoretical channels. Results indicate that the largest effect of parental consent laws is on the abortion decision for pregnant minors. But there are also meaningful effects on marriage opportunities for pregnant minors and on sexual and contraceptive behavior. These effects combine to impact family structure and human capital accumulation over the life-cycle. Simulations show that parental consent laws reduce the accumulation of human capital via impacts of children on school attendance and also increase the probability that women spend time as unwed mothers. A counterfactual abortion ban is predicted to increase birth rates at all ages and subsequently increase unwed motherhood and reduce schooling.

我估算了一个结构模型，该模型嵌套了四个渠道，堕胎成本通过这四个渠道影响伙伴关系和生育能力。父母同意法的变化有助于确定每个理论渠道的相对重要性，而模拟则将总体政策效果分解为理论渠道。结果表明，父母同意法的最大影响是对未成年人的堕胎决定。但是，这也对未成年人的结婚机会以及性行为和避孕行为产生了有意义的影响。这些影响共同影响整个生命周期中的家庭结构和人力资本积累。模拟表明，父母同意法会通过儿童对入学率的影响来减少人力资本的积累，并且还增加了妇女花时间作为未婚母亲的可能性。