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Child Labor, Intra-Household Bargaining and Economic Growth

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  • Pierre-Richard Agénor
  • Baris Alpaslan

Abstract

This paper develops a three-period, gender-based overlapping generations model of endogenous growth with endogenous intra-household bargaining and child labor in home production by girls. Improved access to infrastructure reduces the amount of time parents find optimal for their daughters to spend on household chores, thereby allowing them to allocate more time to studying at home. The model is calibrated for a low-income country and various quantitative experiments are conducted, including an increase in the share of public spending on infrastructure, an increase in time allocated by mothers to their daughters, and a decrease in fathers' preference for girls' education. Our analysis shows that poor access by families to infrastructure may provide an endogenous explanation, beyond social norms and cultural values, for the persistence in child labor at home and gender inequality in low-income countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre-Richard Agénor & Baris Alpaslan, 2013. "Child Labor, Intra-Household Bargaining and Economic Growth," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 181, Economics, The University of Manchester.
  • Handle: RePEc:man:cgbcrp:181
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Pierre-Richard AGENOR & Otaviano CANUTO, 2012. "Access to Infrastructure and Women’s Time Allocation: Evidence and a Framework for Policy Analysis," Working Papers P45, FERDI.
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    3. Baris Alpaslan, 2015. "Public Spending and Transitional Dynamics of an Innovation-Based Growth Model," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 199, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    4. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Dinh, Hinh T., 2015. "Social capital, product imitation and growth with learning externalities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 41-54.
    5. Pierre-Richard Agénor & Nihal Bayraktar, 2020. "Aid Volatility, Human Capital, and Growth," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 401-448.

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