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Collective Models of Family Behaviour: Implications for Economic Policy

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  • Shelley A. Phipps
  • Peter S. Burton

Abstract

Many economists have until fairly recently treated the family as a "black box" -- analysing the behaviour of "the family" rather than of the individuals within the family. In this paper, we outline the new "collective" approach to modelling family behaviour which makes explicit the fact that families consist of individuals with different tastes and different experiences who may sometimes be in conflict with one another. This paper argues that new developments in the economics of the family are of interest to policy-makers because many policy conclusions are sensitive to the model of the family which is adopted. We illustrate the importance of the collective approach to decisions about child-support guidelines, automatic withholding of support payments, child benefits, cash versus kind transfers, and individual versus family taxation.

Suggested Citation

  • Shelley A. Phipps & Peter S. Burton, 1996. "Collective Models of Family Behaviour: Implications for Economic Policy," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 22(2), pages 129-143, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:22:y:1996:i:2:p:129-143
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    Cited by:

    1. Aziz, Omar & Gemmell, Norman & Laws, Athene, 2013. "The Distribution of Income and Fiscal Incidence by Age and Gender: Some Evidence from New Zealand," Working Paper Series 18785, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.
    2. Donni, Olivier & Molina, José Alberto, 2018. "Household Collective Models: Three Decades of Theoretical Contributions and Empirical Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 11915, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Kristian Orsini & Amadéo Spadaro, 2006. "Strategic weight within couples: a microsimulation approach," Working Papers halshs-00590395, HAL.
    4. Urvashi Dhawan Biswal, 1999. "Testing the Family "Common Preference" Model for Immigrant and Non-Immigrant Women's Labour Supply," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 25(s1), pages 95-114, November.
    5. Frederic Vermeulen, 2002. "Collective Household Models: Principles and Main Results," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 533-564, September.
    6. Chiuri, Maria Concetta, 2000. "Individual decisions and household demand for consumption and leisure," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 277-324, September.
    7. Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 1998. "Family Background, Family Income, Maternal Work and Child Development," Cahiers de recherche CREFE / CREFE Working Papers 78, CREFE, Université du Québec à Montréal.
    8. Omar Aziz & Norman Gemmell & Athene Laws, 2016. "Income and Fiscal Incidence by Age and Gender: Some Evidence from New Zealand," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(3), pages 534-558, September.
    9. Frederik Booysen & Sevias Guvuriro, 2018. "Family-type Public Goods and Intra-Household Decision-Making by Co-Resident South African Couples," Working Papers 735, Economic Research Southern Africa.

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