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Decision-Making by Children

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Author Info
Shelly Lundberg () (University of Washington, University of Bergen and IZA)
Jennifer Romich () (University of Washington)
Kwok P. Tsang () (University of Washington)

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Abstract

In this paper, we examine the determinants of decision-making power by children and young adolescents. Moving beyond previous economic models that treat children as goods consumed by adults rather than agents, we develop a noncooperative model of parental control of child behavior and child resistance. Using child reports of decision-making and psychological and cognitive measures from the NLSY79 Child Supplement, we examine the determinants of shared and sole decision-making in seven domains of child activity. We find that the determinants of sole decision-making by the child and shared decision-making with parents are quite distinct: sharing decisions appears to be a form of parental investment in child development rather than a simple stage in the transfer of authority. In addition, we find that indicators of child capability and preferences affect reports of decision-making authority in ways that suggest child demand for autonomy as well as parental discretion in determining these outcomes.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2952.

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Length: 44 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2007
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2952

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Related research
Keywords: decision-making; children; family;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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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.:
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  3. Das, Marcel & van Soest, Arthur, 1999. "A panel data model for subjective information on household income growth," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 409-426, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Bruce, Neil & Waldman, Michael, 1990. "The Rotten-Kid Theorem Meets the Samaritan's Dilemma," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 105(1), pages 155-65, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Ted Bergstrom, 1989. "A Fresh Look at the Rotten Kid Theorem--And Other Household Mysteries," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series 1989A, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara. [Downloadable!]
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  6. William Greene, 2007. "Discrete Choice Modeling," Working Papers 07-7, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  7. William Harbaugh & Kate Krause & Lise Vesterlund, 2002. "Risk Attitudes of Children and Adults: Choices Over Small and Large Probability Gains and Losses," Experimental Economics, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 53-84, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Pollak, Robert A, 1988. "Tied Transfers and Paternalistic Preferences," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 240-44, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Chamberlain, Gary, 1980. "Analysis of Covariance with Qualitative Data," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(1), pages 225-38, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Peter Burton & Shelley Phipps & Lori Curtis, 2002. "All in the Family: A Simultaneous Model of Parenting Style and Child Conduct," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 368-372, May. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
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  1. Alistair Munro, 2009. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Things We Do and Don’t Understand About the Household and the Environment," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 43(1), pages 1-10, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Anyck Dauphin & Abdel-Rahmen El Lahga & Bernard Fortin & Guy Lacroix, 2008. "Are Children Decision-Makers Within the Household?," Cahiers de recherche 0829, CIRPEE. [Downloadable!]
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