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Partnered women’s labour supply and child care costs in Australia: measurement error and the child care price

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  • Xiaodong Gong
  • Robert Breuing
  • Anthony King

Abstract

We show that measurement error in the constructed price of child care can explain why previous Australian studies have found partnered women’s labour supply to be unresponsive to child care prices. Through improved data and improved construction of the child care price variable, we find child care price elasticities that are statistically significant, negative and in line with elasticities found in other developed countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaodong Gong & Robert Breuing & Anthony King, 2011. "Partnered women’s labour supply and child care costs in Australia: measurement error and the child care price," CEPR Discussion Papers 652, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:auu:dpaper:652
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    Cited by:

    1. George Argyrous & Lyn Craig & Sara Rahman, 2017. "The Effect of a First Born Child on Work and Childcare Time Allocation: Pre-post Analysis of Australian Couples," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 831-851, March.
    2. Xiaodong Gong & Robert Breunig, 2017. "Childcare Assistance: Are Subsidies or Tax Credits Better?," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 38, pages 7-48, March.
    3. Hanel, Barbara & Kalb, Guyonne & Scott, Anthony, 2014. "Nurses’ labour supply elasticities: The importance of accounting for extensive margins," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 94-112.
    4. Patricia Apps & Jan Kabátek & Ray Rees & Arthur Soest, 2016. "Labor supply heterogeneity and demand for child care of mothers with young children," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1641-1677, December.
    5. Tomoko Kishi, 2014. "Female Labour Supply in Australia and Japan: The Effects of Education and Qualifications," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 17(3), pages 233-255.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour supply; child care; local area effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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