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

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  • Sonia Oreffice

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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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  • Sonia Oreffice, 2007. "Did the legalization of abortion increase women’s household bargaining power? Evidence from labor supply," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 181-207, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:5:y:2007:i:2:p:181-207
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-007-9009-y
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. René Böheim & Mario Francesconi & Martin Halla, 2012. "Does custody law affect family behavior in and out of marriage?," Economics working papers 2012-12, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    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. repec:kap:reveho:v:15:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11150-015-9314-9 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    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. Chigavazira, Abraham & Fisher, Hayley & Robinson, Tim & Zhu, Anna, 2019. "The Consequences of Extending Equitable Property Division Divorce Laws to Cohabitants," Working Papers 2019-02, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    11. 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.
    12. repec:kap:reveho:v:15:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11150-015-9282-0 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. P. Chiappori, 2011. "Collective labor supply with many consumption goods," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 207-220, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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

    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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