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Optimal Family Policy in the Presence of Moral Hazard when the Quantity and Quality of Children are Stochastic

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  • Alessandro Cigno
  • Annalisa Luporini

Abstract

We examine the second-best family policy under the assumption that both the number and the future earning capacities of the children born to a couple are random variables with probability distributions conditional on unobservable parental actions. Potential parents take their decisions without taking into account the effects of these actions on the government's future tax revenue. The second-best policy provides parents with credit and insurance, and allows them to appropriate the external benefits of their actions. (JEL Codes: D13, D78, D82, H31, J13) Copyright The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Munich. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.

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  • Alessandro Cigno & Annalisa Luporini, 2011. "Optimal Family Policy in the Presence of Moral Hazard when the Quantity and Quality of Children are Stochastic," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 57(2), pages 349-364, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cesifo:v:57:y:2011:i:2:p:349-364
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cesifo/ifr007
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    Cited by:

    1. Gilles Le Garrec, 2015. "Increased longevity and social security reform: questioning the optimality of individual accounts when education matters," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(2), pages 329-352, April.
    2. Cigno, A., 2016. "Conflict and Cooperation Within the Family, and Between the State and the Family, in the Provision of Old-Age Security," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-660, Elsevier.
    3. Marie-Louise Leroux & Pierre Pestieau & Gregory Ponthiere, 2022. "The Optimal Design of Assisted Reproductive Technologies Policies," CESifo Working Paper Series 9803, CESifo.
    4. Pierre Pestieau & Gregory Ponthiere, 2013. "Childbearing Age, Family Allowances, and Social Security," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 80(2), pages 385-413, October.
    5. Peter J. Stauvermann & Frank Wernitz, 2019. "Why Child Allowances Fail to Solve the Pension Problem of Aging Societies," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Tomer Blumkin & Yoram Margalioth & Efraim Sadka, 2015. "The Re-distributive Role of Child Benefits Revisited," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(3), pages 476-501, June.
    7. Alessandro Balestrino, 2015. "Family Taxation, Fertility, and Horizontal Equity," Public Finance Review, , vol. 43(3), pages 402-427, May.
    8. Oliwia Komada, 2023. "Raising America's future: search for optimal child-related transfers," GRAPE Working Papers 84, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    9. Robert Fenge & Lisa Stadler, 2014. "Three Family Policies to Reconcile Fertility and Labor Supply," CESifo Working Paper Series 4922, CESifo.
    10. Blumkin, Tomer & Margalioth, Yoram & Sadka, Efraim, 2014. "The Redistributive Role of Child Benefits Revisited," Foerder Institute for Economic Research Working Papers 275798, Tel-Aviv University > Foerder Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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