Demographic journeys along the Silk Road : Marriage, childbearing, and migration in Kyrgyzstan

This thesis contributes to the limited demographic literature on post-Soviet Central Asia in general and on Kyrgyzstan in particular. It consists of five papers connected through a common theme of ethnic-specific variation in demographic behavior. All studies are based on recent survey data. The first three papers study the links between migration and family formation in Kyrgyzstan. Paper I examines first-birth fertility among internal migrants. Paper II analyzes the role of marriage formation in connecting migration and childbirth; it also illustrates analytical techniques that separate the role of marriage-related migration for fertility from that of other types of moves. Paper III investigates duration dependencies between three demographic events: marriage formation, childbearing, and migration. Paper IV studies the intention to emigrate among Kyrgyzstan's youth. Paper V compares achieved fertility and fertility intentions of ethnic majority and minority populations across three neighboring states: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan