A Constitutional Theory of the Family
Abstract
The paper re-examines the idea that a family can be viewed as a community governed by a self-enforcing constitution, and extends existing results in two directions. First, it identifies circumstances in which a constitution is renegotiation-proof. Second, it introduces parental altruism. The behavioural and policy implications are illustrated by showing the effects of public pensions and credit rationing. These implications are not much affected by whether altruism is assumed or not, but contrast sharply with the predictions of more conventional models.Download Info
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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1797.Length: 30 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2005
Date of revision:
Publication status: published in: Journal of Population Economics, 2006, 19 (2), 259-289
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1797
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Related research
Keywords: saving; fertility; altruism; renegotiation-proofness; self-enforcing constitutions; families; transfers; attention; pensions; credit rationing;Other versions of this item:
- Alessandro Cigno, 2006. "A constitutional theory of the family," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 259-283, June.
- Alessandro Cigno, 2005. "A constitutional theory of the family," CHILD Working Papers wp14_05, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY.
- C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
- D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, and Operations
- D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
- D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
- D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances
- D91 - Microeconomics - - Intertemporal Choice and Growth - - - Intertemporal Consumer Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
- H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
- J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2005-10-22 (All new papers)
- NEP-PBE-2005-10-22 (Public Economics)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease 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.:
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"A Reformulation of the Economic Theory of Fertility,"
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- Douglas Bernheim, B. & Ray, Debraj, 1989. "Collective dynamic consistency in repeated games," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 295-326, December.
- Alessandro Cigno & Gianna Giannelli & Furio Rosati & Daniela Vuri, 2006.
"Is there such a thing as a family constitution? A test based on credit rationing,"
Review of Economics of the Household,
Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 183-204, 09.
- Cigno, Alessandro & Giannelli, Gianna Claudia & Rosati, Furio C. & Vuri, Daniela, 2004. "Is There Such a Thing as a Family Constitution? A Test Based on Credit Rationing," IZA Discussion Papers 1116, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Farrell, Joseph & Maskin, Eric, 1989.
"Renegotiation in repeated games,"
Games and Economic Behavior,
Elsevier, vol. 1(4), pages 327-360, December.
- Farrell, Joseph & Maskin, Eric, 1987. "Renegotiation in Repeated Games," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt9wv3h5jb, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
- Joseph Farrell and Eric Maskin., 1987. "Renegotiation in Repeated Games," Economics Working Papers 8759, University of California at Berkeley.
- Cigno, Alessandro, 1993. "Intergenerational transfers without altruism : Family, market and state," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 505-518, November.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- F. Francavilla & Gianna Claudia Giannelli & Leonardo Grilli, 2010.
"Mothers’ Employment and their Children’s Schooling: a Joint Multilevel Analysis for India,"
Working Papers Series
wp2010_07.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Economia e Dell'Impresa.
- Francavilla, Francesca & Giannelli, Gianna Claudia & Grilli, Leonardo, 2013. "Mothers’ Employment and their Children’s Schooling: A Joint Multilevel Analysis for India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 183-195.
- Stephen Satchell & Susan Thorp, 2011. "Uncertain survival and time discounting: intertemporal consumption plans for family trusts," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 239-266, January.
- Cipriani, Giam Pietro, 2013. "Population Ageing and PAYG Pensions in the OLG Model," IZA Discussion Papers 7144, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Alessandro Cigno, 2007. "Low fertility in Europe: Is the pension system the victim or the culprit? Introduction by Alessandro Cigno," CESifo Forum, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 8(3), pages 37-42, October.
- Leonid Azarnert, 2009.
"Après nous le Déluge: Fertility and the Intensity of Struggle against Immigration,"
Working Papers
2009-15, Department of Economics, Bar-Ilan University.
- Leonid Azarnert, 2010. "Après nous le Déluge: fertility and the intensity of struggle against immigration," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1339-1349, September.
- Leonid V. Azarnert, 2010. "Après nous le Déluge: Fertility and the Intensity of Struggle against Immigration," CESifo Working Paper Series 3064, CESifo Group Munich.
- Cigno, Alessandro & Giannelli, Gianna Claudia & Rosati, Furio C. & Vuri, Daniela, 2004.
"Is There Such a Thing as a Family Constitution? A Test Based on Credit Rationing,"
IZA Discussion Papers
1116, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Alessandro Cigno & Gianna Giannelli & Furio Rosati & Daniela Vuri, 2006. "Is there such a thing as a family constitution? A test based on credit rationing," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 183-204, 09.
- Mikko Puhakka & Matti Viren, 2012. "Social Security, Saving and Fertility," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 28-42, Spring.
- Leonid Azarnert, 2010. "Free education, fertility and human capital accumulation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 449-468, March.
- Francavilla, Francesca & Giannelli, Gianna Claudia & Grilli, Leonardo, 2008. "School Attendance of Children and the Work of Mothers: A Joint Multilevel Model for India," IZA Discussion Papers 3531, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Haizhen Mou & Stanley L. Winer, 2012. "Fiscal Incidence when both Individual Welfare and Family Structure Matter: The Case of Subsidization of Home-Care for the Elderly," CESifo Working Paper Series 3731, CESifo Group Munich.
- Francesca Francavilla & Gianna Claudia Giannelli, 2010. "The relation between child work and the employment of mothers in India," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 31(2), pages 232-257, May.
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