Cross-national models of fertility, family planning, and development commonly assume that there are no reciprocal effect between fertility and other variables in the model and that when path models are used, there are no reciprocal or nonrecursive effects among any set of variables in the model. The present study tests for nonrecursiveness using 2-wave panel data, and finds that nonrecursive effects are present among variables commonly used in model of fertility, family planning, and development. In addition, the pattern of relationships found has implications for the explanation of the relationship between mortality and fertility in demographic transition theory.