 More precisely, the empirical findings of Furuoka’s 2009 study indicate that in countries with a low human development index, higher levels of HDI tend to be associated with lower fertility rates.Likewise, in countries with a high human development index, higher levels of HDI are associated with lower fertility rates, although the relationship is weaker.Furuoka's findings support the "conventional wisdom" that higher development is consistently correlated with lower overall fertility.