IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jpbect/v12y2010i6p1059-1080.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Modest Proposal for a Two‐Sided Market Clearing Institution under Asymmetric Supply Constraints with Skewed Pricing: The Market for Adoption and Abortion in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • CHRISTOPHER BALDING

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical model matching the potential supply of terminated pregnancies with the total demand for children within certain modeling constraints. First, the demand and supply of pregnancies should be studied within the theoretical framework of a market with economic incentives. Second, a theoretical model for the demand for abortion must incorporate the total market for children, which implies the market for pregnancy, abortion, and adoption. Third, there exist in the overall market for procreative goods and services certain unique characteristics that need to be carefully considered. Producers and suppliers within the procreative goods and services market have radically different price and cost elasticity functions and unique production asymmetries that create a potential net benefit for buyer and seller alike. The market for abortion and adoption, while seemingly related and similar, suffer from a fundamental disconnect, preventing a simple exchange of goods and services: abortion implies potential supply that does not flow to potential consumersthose seeking to adopt. Studying this market inefficiency will benefit from a two‐sided market analysis used in situations where an intermediary business must attract both producers and suppliers. There are two key findings. First, I find that the producer decision to supply the good depends primarily on exogenous preference formation and not on consumer‐provided incentives. Second, I find that the market would benefit from legal framework for a market clearing institution using the market for real estate as the blueprint.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher Balding, 2010. "A Modest Proposal for a Two‐Sided Market Clearing Institution under Asymmetric Supply Constraints with Skewed Pricing: The Market for Adoption and Abortion in the United States," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 12(6), pages 1059-1080, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:12:y:2010:i:6:p:1059-1080
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9779.2010.01485.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9779.2010.01485.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-9779.2010.01485.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Gruber & Phillip Levine & Douglas Staiger, 1999. "Abortion Legalization and Child Living Circumstances: Who is the "Marginal Child"?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 263-291.
    2. Mary Eschelbach Hansen & Bradley A. Hansen, 2005. "The Economics of Adoption of Children from Foster Care," Working Papers 2005-09, American University, Department of Economics.
    3. Robert W. Brown & R. Todd Jewell & Jeffrey J. Rous, 2001. "Provider Availability, Race, and Abortion Demand," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(3), pages 656-671, January.
    4. Lundberg, Shelly & Plotnick, Robert D, 1995. "Adolescent Premarital Childbearing: Do Economic Incentives Matter?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(2), pages 177-200, April.
    5. Deborah Haas-Wilson, 1993. "The economic impact of state restrictions on abortion: Parental consent and notification laws and medicaid funding restrictions," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(3), pages 498-511.
    6. Robert W. Brown & R. Todd Jewell, 1996. "The Impact Of Provider Availability On Abortion Demand," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 14(2), pages 95-106, April.
    7. Marshall H. Medoff, 2008. "The effect of abortion costs on adoption in the USA," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(3), pages 188-201, February.
    8. Gennetian, Lisa A, 1999. "The Supply of Infants Relinquished for Adoption: Did Access to Abortion Make a Difference?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(3), pages 412-431, July.
    9. Blank, Rebecca M. & George, Christine C. & London, Rebecca A., 1996. "State abortion rates the impact of policies, providers, politics, demographics, and economic environment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 513-553, October.
    10. Michael, Robert T, 1973. "Education and the Derived Demand for Children," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(2), pages 128-164, Part II, .
    11. Gary S. Becker & Robert J. Barro, 1988. "A Reformulation of the Economic Theory of Fertility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 103(1), pages 1-25.
    12. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    13. Paton, David, 2002. "The economics of family planning and underage conceptions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 207-225, March.
    14. Stephan F. Gohmann & Robert L. Ohsfeldt, 1993. "Effects Of Price And Availability On Abortion Demand," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 11(4), pages 42-55, October.
    15. Arleen Leibowitz & Winston Chow & Marvin Eisen, 1986. "An economic model of teenage pregnancy decision-making," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 23(1), pages 67-77, February.
    16. Donna S. Rothstein, 1992. "An Economic Approach to Abortion Demand," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 36(1), pages 53-64, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Channary Khun & Sajal Lahiri & Sokchea Lim, 2020. "Why Do U.S. Parents Prefer Private To Foster Care Adoptions? The Role Of Adoption Subsidies, Gender, Race, And Special Needs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(4), pages 1757-1782, October.
    2. Khun, Channary & Lahiri, Sajal, 2017. "The economics of international child adoption: An analysis of adoptions by U.S. parents," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 22-31.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Medoff, Marshall H., 2003. "The impact of anti-abortion activities on state abortion rates," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 265-282, July.
    2. Robert W. Brown & R. Todd Jewell & Jeffrey J. Rous, 2001. "Provider Availability, Race, and Abortion Demand," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(3), pages 656-671, January.
    3. Laura S. Hussey, 2010. "Welfare Generosity, Abortion Access, and Abortion Rates: A Comparison of State Policy Tools," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(1), pages 266-283, March.
    4. Mark Gius, 2019. "Using the Synthetic Control Method to Determine the Effect of Ultrasound Laws on State-Level Abortion Rates," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 47(2), pages 205-215, June.
    5. Phillip B. Levine & Douglas Staiger, 2002. "Abortion as Insurance," NBER Working Papers 8813, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. repec:mpr:mprres:6548 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Silvie Colman & Theodore J. Joyce, "undated". "Regulating Abortion: Impact on Patients and Providers in Texas," Mathematica Policy Research Reports db01943e8d23431ca26fe3eaf, Mathematica Policy Research.
    8. Clarke, Damian, 2023. "The Economics of Abortion Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 16395, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Silvie Colman & Ted Joyce, 2011. "Regulating abortion: Impact on patients and providers in Texas," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 775-797, September.
    10. Blank, Rebecca M. & George, Christine C. & London, Rebecca A., 1996. "State abortion rates the impact of policies, providers, politics, demographics, and economic environment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 513-553, October.
    11. Phillip B. Levine, 2001. "The Sexual Activity and Birth-Control Use of American Teenagers," NBER Chapters, in: Risky Behavior among Youths: An Economic Analysis, pages 167-218, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Phillip B. Levine, 2002. "The Impact of Social Policy and Economic Activity Throughout the Fertility Decision Tree," NBER Working Papers 9021, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Marshall Medoff, 2007. "Price, Restrictions and Abortion Demand," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 583-599, December.
    14. Sen, Bisakha, 2003. "An indirect test for whether restricting Medicaid funding for abortion increases pregnancy-avoidance behavior," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 155-163, November.
    15. Whitaker, Stephan, 2011. "The impact of legalized abortion on high school graduation through selection and composition," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 228-246, April.
    16. Marshall Medoff, 2008. "The Response of Abortion Demand to Changes in Abortion Costs," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 329-346, June.
    17. Medoff, Marshall H., 1999. "An estimate of teenage abortion demand," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 175-184, July.
    18. Tommaso Autorino & Francesco Mattioli & Letizia Mencarini, 2018. "The Impact of Gynecologists' Conscientious Objection on Access to Abortion in Italy," Working Papers 119, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    19. Levine, Phillip B. & Trainor, Amy B. & Zimmerman, David J., 1996. "The effect of Medicaid abortion funding restrictions on abortions, pregnancies and births," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 555-578, October.
    20. Grossman, Michael & Joyce, Theodore J, 1990. "Unobservables, Pregnancy Resolutions, and Birth Weight Production Functions in New York City," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 983-1007, October.
    21. Levine, Phillip B., 2003. "Parental involvement laws and fertility behavior," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 861-878, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:12:y:2010:i:6:p:1059-1080. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/apettea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.