Testing the Neoclassical Model of Family Labor Supply and Fertility

The McElroy-Horney Nash-bargaining model of family demand behavior relaxes the restriction that nonearned income of husband and wife had the identical effect on family labor supply and commodity demands. This restriction of the neoclassical model of family behavior is tested for the determination of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of human resources Vol. 25; no. 4; pp. 599 - 634
Main Author Schultz, T. Paul
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Madison University of Wisconsin Press 01.10.1990
Subjects
Coefficients
Economic models
Families & family life
Female fertility
Fertility
Gender equality
Husbands
Income
Labor force
Labor supply
Maximum likelihood estimation
Men
Sampling methods
Social research
Symposium on Household Bargaining Models
Wages
Thailand
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The McElroy-Horney Nash-bargaining model of family demand behavior relaxes the restriction that nonearned income of husband and wife had the identical effect on family labor supply and commodity demands. This restriction of the neoclassical model of family behavior is tested for the determination of husband and wife labor supply and fertility based on the 1981 Socioeconomic Survey of Thailand. The neoclassical restriction is rejected for female labor supply and fertility. Another unexplored limitation of family demand studies, due to the sample self selection of intact marriages, is empirically treated through alternative estimation strategies. In this case, a more sharply focused theory of marital behavior is needed to identify family demand models.
ISSN:0022-166X
1548-8004
DOI:10.2307/145669