Innovation and Adaptation in Fertility Transition: Jewish Immigrants to Israel from Muslim North Africa and the Middle East

Beginning with Carlsson’s (1966) alternative characterizations of fertility transition—one in terms of innovation and diffusion, the other in terms of adjustment or adaptation—there has been a major controversy over which model better describes the process of marital fertility decline. While it is likely that both innovative and adaptive behavior play roles in fertility transition, the literature has been largely polarized around these two views. In their discussion of the policy implications for developing countries of the European historical record, Knodel and van de Walle (1986) stress an innovation in family limitation by a vanguard followed by diffusion to the many. In summarizing the results of the European Fertility Project, Watkins (1986) echoes this view, and emphasizes the importance of cultural boundaries to the spread of the innovative behavior. The innovation and diffusion of stopping behavior—fertility control exercised once women have already attained their desired family size—are seen as the driving force behind theEuropean fertility transition.