This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Is Child Work Necessary?

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Sonia R Bhalotra

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This paper investigates why children work by studying the wage elasticity of child labour supply. Incorporating subsistence constraints in to a model of labour supply, we show that a negative wage elasticity favours the hypothesis that poverty compels work whereas a positive wage elasticity would favour the alternative view that children work because the relative returns to school are low. Distinguishing between these alternatives is important for policy. Existing studies have concentrated on the income elasticity, but this tells us nothing other than that leisure (or education) is a normal good. Using a large household survey for rural Pakistan, we estimate structural labour supply models for boys and girls in wage work, conditioning on full income and a range of demographic variables. Our estimates describe a forward falling labour supply curve for boys, consistent with the view that boys work on account of the compulsions of poverty. This is less clear in the case of girls. Therefore raising the return to schooling for girls may draw them out of work, but eliminating boys' wage work requires alleviation of the poverty of their households. Trade sanctions or bans on child labour may have deleterious consequences for these households unless they are compensated for the loss in income.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/de/dedps26.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE in its series STICERD - Development Economics Papers with number 26.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Aug 2000
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cep:stidep:26

Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/publications/

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().

Related research
Keywords: Child labour education poverty gender intertemporal labour supply.

Other versions of this item:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Rajeev Dehejia & Roberta Gatti, 2002. "Child Labor: The Role of Income Variability and Access to Credit Across Countries," NBER Working Papers 9018, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Simon Appleton, 2000. "Education and health at the household level in sub-Saharan Africa," CID Working Papers 33, Center for International Development at Harvard University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Jean-Marie Baland & James A. Robinson, 2000. "Is Child Labor Inefficient?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(4), pages 663-679, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Alan Krueger, 1996. "Observations on International Labor Standards and Trade," Working Papers 741, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Ray, R., 1998. "Analysis of Child Labour in Peru and Pakistan: a Comparative Study," Papers 1998-05, Tasmania - Department of Economics.
    Other versions:
  6. Kniesner, Thomas J, 1976. "An Indirect Test of Complementarity in a Family Labor Supply Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 44(4), pages 651-69, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Saqib Jafarey & Sajal Lahiri, 1999. "Will trade sanctions reduce child labour? The role of credit markets," Economics Discussion Papers 500, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    Other versions:
  8. Ranjan, Priya, 1999. "An economic analysis of child labor," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 99-105, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. repec:att:wimass:19901 is not listed on IDEAS
  10. Eric V. Edmonds, 2007. "Child Labor," IZA Discussion Papers 2606, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Dehejia, Rajeev H. & Beegle, Kathleen & Gatti, Roberta, 2003. "Child labor, income shocks, and access to credit," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3075, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  12. Heckman, James J, 1974. "Shadow Prices, Market Wages, and Labor Supply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 42(4), pages 679-94, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Douglas A. Galbi, 1997. "Child labor and the division of labor in the early English cotton mills," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 357-375. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. George Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos, 1997. "Family size, schooling and child labor in Peru - An empirical analysis," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 387-405. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Jensen, P. & Nielsen, H.S., 1996. "Child Labour or School Attendance? Evidence from Zambia," Papers 96-14, Centre for Labour Market and Social Research, Danmark-.
    Other versions:
  16. repec:fth:prinin:362 is not listed on IDEAS
  17. Basu, Kaushik & Van, Pham Hoang, 1998. "The Economics of Child Labor," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 412-27, June.
  18. Fortin, B. & Lacroix, G., 1993. "A Test of the Neoclassical and Collective Models of Household Labour Supply," Papers 9335, Laval - Recherche en Politique Economique.
  19. Kaushik Basu & Zafiris Tzannatos, 2003. "The Global Child Labor Problem: What Do We Know and What Can We Do?," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 147-173, December.
  20. Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1980. "Neoclassical Theory and the Optimizing Peasant: An Econometric Analysis of Market Family Labor Supply in a Developing Country," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 94(1), pages 31-55, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Jere Behrman & Andrew D. Foster & Mark Rosenzweig & Prem Vahsishtha, 1997. "Women's Schooling, Home Teaching, and Economic Growth," Home Pages _071, University of Pennsylvania. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  22. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-38, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Levy, Victor, 1985. "Cropping Pattern, Mechanization, Child Labor, and Fertility Behavior in a Farming Economy: Rural Egypt," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(4), pages 777-91, July.
  24. Blundell, Richard & Walker, Ian, 1986. "A Life-Cycle Consistent Empirical Model of Family Labour Supply Using Cross-Section Data," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 53(4), pages 539-58, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Bhargava, Alok & Sargan, J D, 1983. "Estimating Dynamic Random Effects Models from Panel Data Covering Short Time Periods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(6), pages 1635-59, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  26. Becker, Gary S & Tomes, Nigel, 1986. "Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(3), pages S1-39, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  27. Patrick M. Emerson & Andre Portela Souza, 2002. "Is There a Child Labor Trap? Inter-Generational Persistence of Child Labor in Brazil," Working Papers 0214, Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  28. Nelson, Charles R & Startz, Richard, 1990. "The Distribution of the Instrumental Variables Estimator and Its t-Ratio When the Instrument Is a Poor One," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages S125-40, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  29. Parsons, Donald O & Goldin, Claudia, 1989. "Parental Altruism and Self-Interest: Child Labor among Late Nineteenth-Century American Families," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 27(4), pages 637-59, October.
  30. Bhargava, Alok, 1991. "Identification and Panel Data Models with Endogenous Regressors," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 58(1), pages 129-40, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  31. Case, Anne & Lin, I-Fen & McLanahan, Sara, 2000. "How Hungry Is the Selfish Gene?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(466), pages 781-804, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  32. Newey, Whitney K & Powell, James L & Walker, James R, 1990. "Semiparametric Estimation of Selection Models: Some Empirical Results," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 324-28, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  33. Jolliffe, Dean, 1997. "Whose education matters in the determination of household income," FCND discussion papers 39, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
  34. Jacoby, Hanan G & Skoufias, Emmanuel, 1997. "Risk, Financial Markets, and Human Capital in a Developing Country," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 64(3), pages 311-35, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  35. Heckman, James J & Macurdy, Thomas E, 1980. "A Life Cycle Model of Female Labour Supply," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(1), pages 47-74, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  36. Mroz, Thomas A, 1987. "The Sensitivity of an Empirical Model of Married Women's Hours of Work to Economic and Statistical Assumptions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(4), pages 765-99, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  37. Nielsen, H.S., 1998. "Child Labor and School Attendance: Two Joint Decisions," Papers 98-15, Centre for Labour Market and Social Research, Danmark-.
  38. Kooreman, Peter & Kapteyn, Arie, 1986. "Estimation of Rationed and Unrationed Household Labour Supply Functions Using Flexible Functional Forms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 96(382), pages 398-412, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  39. Glewwe, P. & Jacoby, H., 1993. "Delayed Primary School Enrollment and Childhood Malnutrition in Ghana, an Economic Analysis," Papers 98, World Bank - Living Standards Measurement.
  40. David Card, 1994. "Earnings, Schooling, and Ability Revisited," NBER Working Papers 4832, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  41. Martin Shubik, 2001. "On Understanding Money," World Economics, World Economics, NTC Economic & Financial Publishing, PO Box 69, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, RG9 1GB, vol. 2(1), pages 95-120, January. [Downloadable!]
  42. Grootaert, Christiaan & Kanbur, Ravi, 1995. "Child labor : a review," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1454, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  43. Swaminathan, Madhura, 1998. "Economic growth and the persistence of child labor: Evidence from an Indian city," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(8), pages 1513-1528, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  44. Bhalotra, Sonia, 2002. "Parent Altruism," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2002 25, Royal Economic Society. [Downloadable!]
  45. Skoufias, Emmanuel & Parker, Susan W., 2001. "Conditional cash transfers and their impact on child work and schooling," FCND briefs 123, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  46. Canagarajah, Sudharshan & Coulombe, Harold, 1997. "Child labor and schooling in Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1844, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  47. Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, 1997. "Does the Labour Market Explain Lower Female Schooling in India?," STICERD - Development Economics Papers 01, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  48. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1994. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," NBER Technical Working Papers 0151, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Sonia Bhalotra, 2007. "Fatal Fluctuations? - Cyclicality in Infant Mortality in India," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 07/181, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Strulik, Holger, 2008. "The Role of Poverty and Community Norms in Child Labor and Schooling Decisions," Diskussionspapiere der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Hannover dp-383, Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät. [Downloadable!]
  3. Sarbajit Chaudhuri & Manash Ranjan Gupta, 2005. "Child Labour And Trade Liberalization In A Developing Economy," Labor and Demography 0510017, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  4. Ana C. Dammert, 2007. "Child Labor and Schooling Response to Changes in Coca Production in Rural Peru," IZA Discussion Papers 2869, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. Geoffrey Lancaster & Ranjan Ray, 2004. "Does Child Labour Affect School Attendance and School Performance?Multi Country Evidence on SIMPOC data," Econometric Society 2004 Australasian Meetings 68, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  6. Pushkar Maitra & Ranjan Ray, 2000. "The Joint Estimation of Child Participation in Schooling and Employment: Comparative Evidence from Three Continents," ASARC Working Papers 2000-04, Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. François Bourguignon & Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Phillippe G. Leite, 2002. "Ex-ante Evaluation of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: The Case of Bolsa Escola," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 516, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross Business School. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Boockmann, Bernhard, 2004. "The Effect of ILO Minimum Age Conventions on Child Labour and School Attendance," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-52, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  9. Jackline Wahba, 2005. "The Influence of Market Wages and Parental History on Child Labour and Schooling in Egypt," IZA Discussion Papers 1771, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  10. Benoit Dostie & Désiré Vencatachellum, 2004. "Compulsory and Voluntary Remittances: Evidence from Child Domestic Workers in Tunisia," Cahiers de recherche 04-04, HEC Montréal, Institut d'économie appliquée. [Downloadable!]
  11. Sonia R Bhalotra & Chris Heady, 2000. "Child Farm Labour: Theory and Evidence," STICERD - Development Economics Papers 24, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  12. Wahba, J., . "The Influence of Market Wages and Parental History on Child Labour and Schooling in Egypt," Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics 0603, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton. [Downloadable!]
  13. Sarbajit Chaudhuri, 2005. "Incidence Of Child Labour, Free Education Policy And Economic Liberalization In A Developing Economy," Labor and Demography 0511010, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Aldaba, Fernando T. & Lanzona, Leonardo & Tamangan, Ronald J., 2004. "A National Policy Study on Child Labour and Development in the Philippines," Discussion Papers DP 2004-15, Philippine Institute for Development Studies. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? You can import bibliographic info in various formats into you bibliographic tool, or just into your word processor. See under "publisher info" on each abstract page.

This page was last updated on 2008-7-28.


This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.