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The cost of children: May the collective approach to household behavior help?

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  • FranÚois Bourguignon

    (DELTA/E.N.S., 48 Bd. Jourdan, F-75014 Paris, France)

Abstract

The collective approach to household consumption behavior tries to infer from variables supposed to affect the general bargaining position of household members information on the allocation of consumptions goods and tasks among them. This paper investigates the extension of previous work to the case where children may be considered as a public consumption good by the two adult members of a household. The main question being asked is whether it is possible to retrieve from the aggregate consumption behaviour of the household and the relative earnings of the parents information on the allocation of goods between them and children. This alternative approach to the estimation of the `cost of children' is contrasted with the conventional approach based on a `unitary' representation of and demographic separability assumptions on household consumption behaviour.

Suggested Citation

  • FranÚois Bourguignon, 1999. "The cost of children: May the collective approach to household behavior help?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 12(4), pages 503-521.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:12:y:1999:i:4:p:503-521
    Note: Received: 29 August 1997/Accepted: 26 November 1998
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    Keywords

    Consumption behaviour · intra-household allocation · cost of children;

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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