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Did the legalization of abortion increase women’s household bargaining power? Evidence from labor supply

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Listed author(s):
  • Sonia Oreffice

    ()

Abstract

I estimate the impact of abortion legalization on spouses’ labor supplies to test whether legalization increased women’s household bargaining power, in a collective household behavior framework. Based on CPS data, I find that wives’ labor supply decreased and their husbands’ increased, which is consistent with the bargaining hypothesis. This contrasts with most studies of abortion and birth control technologies, which predict a labor supply effect only for women, and of opposite sign. Also consistent with the bargaining interpretation, I estimate no significant impact on anti-abortion religious couples or on those who regularly used contraceptives. PSID data yield supportive evidence. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11150-007-9009-y
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Article provided by Springer in its journal Review of Economics of the Household.

Volume (Year): 5 (2007)
Issue (Month): 2 (June)
Pages: 181-207

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Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:5:y:2007:i:2:p:181-207
DOI: 10.1007/s11150-007-9009-y
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.springer.com

Order Information: Web: http://www.springer.com/economics/microeconomics/journal/11150/PS2

Keywords: Legalization of abortion; Household bargaining power; Labor supply; D1; J22;

Find related papers by JEL classification:

  • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
  • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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Cited by:

  1. Böheim, René & Francesconi, Marco & Halla, Martin, 2012. "Does Custody Law Affect Family Behavior In and Out of Marriage?," IZA Discussion Papers 7064, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  2. Sonia Oreffice, 2014. "Culture and Household Decision Making. Balance of Power and Labor Supply Choices of US-Born and Foreign-Born Couples," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 162-184, June.
  3. Pierre-André Chiappori & Murat Iyigun & Yoram Weiss, 2008. "An Assignment Model with Divorce and Remarriage," Working Papers 2009-002, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
  4. Oreffice, Sonia, 2011. "Sexual orientation and household decision making.: Same-sex couples' balance of power and labor supply choices," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 145-158, April.
  5. Shoshana Grossbard & Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, 2008. "Cohort-level sex ratio effects on women’s labor force participation," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 309-309, September.
  6. Christina Peters, 2011. "Effects of family planning and health services on women’s welfare: evidence on dowries and intra-household bargaining in Bangladesh," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 327-348, September.
  7. Nunley, John M. & Seals Jr., Richard Alan, 2011. "Child-custody reform, marital investment in children, and the labor supply of married mothers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 14-24, January.
  8. Ainhoa Herrarte & Julián Moral-Carcedo & Felipe Sáez, 2012. "The impact of childbirth on Spanish women’s decisions to leave the labor market," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 441-468, September.
  9. repec:esx:essedp:724 is not listed on IDEAS
  10. P. Chiappori, 2011. "Collective labor supply with many consumption goods," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 207-220, June.

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