IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/empeco/v43y2012i3p1143-1169.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of home production on economic inequality in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Joachim Frick
  • Markus Grabka
  • Olaf Groh-Samberg

Abstract

Using representative income and time-use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate non-monetary income advantages arising from home production and analyze their impact on economic inequality. As an alternative to existing measures, we propose a predicted wage approach that relaxes some of the strong assumptions underlying both the standard opportunity cost approach and the housekeeper wage approach. We also propose a method of adjusting the number of hours spent on home production to reduce the bias arising from multi-tasking and joint production in time-use data. Sensitivity analyses comparing results among different approaches provide indications of method effects. Although this study supports the evidence that considering home production leads to a reduction in inequality, we show that the size of this effect differs according to the variations in the mean and distribution of the estimated monetary value of home production across the three approaches. This finding underscores the need for a harmonized approach in cross-national comparative research. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Joachim Frick & Markus Grabka & Olaf Groh-Samberg, 2012. "The impact of home production on economic inequality in Germany," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 1143-1169, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:43:y:2012:i:3:p:1143-1169
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-011-0523-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00181-011-0523-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00181-011-0523-7?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Hallberg & Anders Klevmarken, 2003. "Time for children: A study of parent's time allocation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(2), pages 205-226, May.
    2. Harley Frazis & Jay Stewart, 2006. "How Does Household Production Affect Earnings Inequality?: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_454, Levy Economics Institute.
    3. Tsakloglou, Panos & Matsaganis, Manos & Sutherland, Holly & Decoster, André, 2009. "Accurate income measurement for the assessment of public policies: final report," EUROMOD Working Papers EM7/09, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    4. Foster, James & Greer, Joel & Thorbecke, Erik, 1984. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 761-766, May.
    5. Peter Gottschalk & Susan E. Mayer, 1997. "Changes in Home Production and Trends in Economic Inequality," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 382, Boston College Department of Economics.
    6. Burda, Michael C. & Hamermesh, Daniel S., 2010. "Unemployment, market work and household production," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 131-133, May.
    7. Peter Gottschalk & Timothy M. Smeeding, 1997. "Cross-National Comparisons of Earnings and Income Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 633-687, June.
    8. Graham, John W & Green, Carole A, 1984. "Estimating the Parameters of a Household Production Function with Joint Products," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 66(2), pages 277-282, May.
    9. W. Keith Bryant & Cathleen D. Zick, 1985. "Income Distribution Implications of Rural Household Production," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 67(5), pages 1100-1104.
    10. Bonke, Jens, 1992. "Distribution of Economic Resources: Implications of Including Household Production," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 38(3), pages 281-293, September.
    11. W. Keith Bryant & Hyojin Kang & Cathleen D. Zick & Anna Y. Chan, 2004. "Measuring Housework in Time Use Surveys," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 23-47, March.
    12. Stephen P. Jenkins & Nigel C. O'Leary, 1996. "Household Income Plus Household Production: The Distribution Of Extended Income In The U.K," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 42(4), pages 401-419, December.
    13. Gert G. Wagner & Joachim R. Frick & Jürgen Schupp, 2007. "The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) – Scope, Evolution and Enhancements," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 127(1), pages 139-169.
    14. Jenkins, Stephen P & O'Leary, Nigel C, 1996. "Household Income Plus Household Production: The Distribution of Extended Income in the U.K," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 42(4), pages 401-419, December.
    15. Gronau, Reuben, 1980. "Home Production-A Forgotten Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 62(3), pages 408-416, August.
    16. Duncan Ironmonger, 1996. "Counting outputs, capital inputs and caring labor: Estimating gross household product," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 37-64.
    17. repec:ret:ecocri:rec22_14 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Joachim R. Frick & Markus M. Grabka & Olaf Groh-Samberg, 2010. "Economic Gains from Educational Transfers in Kind in Germany," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 19(3-4), pages 17-40, September.
    19. Michael C. Burda & Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2009. "Evidence on Unemployment, Market Work and Household Production," SFB 649 Discussion Papers SFB649DP2009-043, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
    20. Goebel Jan & Grabka Markus M. & Liebig Stefan & Kroh Martin & Richter David & Schröder Carsten & Schupp Jürgen, 2019. "The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(2), pages 345-360, April.
    21. Timothy M. Smeeding & Daniel H. Weinberg, 2001. "Toward a Uniform Definition of Household Income," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 47(1), pages 1-24, March.
    22. Marcel Kerkhofs & Peter Kooreman, 2003. "Identification and estimation of a class of household production models," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(3), pages 337-369.
    23. Harley Frazis & Jay Stewart, 2011. "How does household production affect measured income inequality?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(1), pages 3-22, January.
    24. Jens Bonke, 1992. "Distribution Of Economic Resources: Implications Of Including Household Production," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 38(3), pages 281-293, September.
    25. Cathleen Zick & W. Bryant & Sivithee Srisukhumbowornchai, 2008. "Does housework matter anymore? The shifting impact of housework on economic inequality," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-28, March.
    26. Iulie Aslaksen & Charlotte Koren, 1996. "Unpaid household work and the distribution of extended income: The Norwegian experience," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(3), pages 65-80.
    27. Joachim R. Frick & Jan Goebel & Markus M. Grabka, 2007. "Assessing the Distributional Impact of "Imputed Rent" and "Non-cash Employee Income" in Microdata: Case Studies Based on EU-SILC (2004) and SOEP (2002)," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 2, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    28. Blundell,R. W. & Preston,Ian & Walker,Ian (ed.), 1994. "The Measurement of Household Welfare," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521451956, October.
    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. Jim Been & Susann Rohwedder & Michael Hurd, 2020. "Does Home Production Replace Consumption Spending? Evidence from Shocks in Housing Wealth in the Great Recession," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(1), pages 113-128, March.
    2. Andrea Brandolini & Eliana Viviano, 2014. "Accounting for total work," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 253, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    3. François Gardes, 2021. "A Solution to the Estimation of an Enlarged GDP Including Domestic Production: An Estimation on Micro Data," Post-Print halshs-03325362, HAL.
    4. Maximilian Stockhausen, 2017. "The Distribution of Economic Resources to Children in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 901, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    5. Bonsang, Eric & van Soest, Arthur, 2015. "Home Production and Retirement in Couples: A Panel Data Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 9156, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Andrea Brandolini & Eliana Viviano, 2016. "Accounting for total work in labour statistics [Der Gesamtbetrag der Arbeit in den Arbeitsmarktstatistiken]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 49(3), pages 199-212, November.
    7. Luca Marchiori & Olivier Pierrard, 2012. "LOLA 2.0: Luxembourg OverLapping generation model for policy Analysis," BCL working papers 76, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    8. Anil Alpman & François Gardes, 2016. "Welfare Analysis of the Allocation of Time During the Great Recession," Post-Print halshs-01159507, HAL.
    9. Nancy Folbre & Marta Murray-Close & Jooyeoun Suh, 2018. "Equivalence scales for extended income in the U.S," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 189-227, June.
    10. Stockhausen, Maximilian, 2016. "The Impact of Private and Public Childcare Provision on the Distribution of Children's Incomes in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145638, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    11. François Gardes, 2021. "A Solution to the Estimation of an Enlarged GDP Including Domestic Production: An Estimation on Micro Data," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-03325362, HAL.
    12. François Gardes, 2021. "A Solution to the estimation of an Enlarged GDP Including Domestic Production: An Estimation on Micro Data," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 21024, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    13. Marchiori, Luca & Pierrard, Olivier, 2017. "How does global demand for financial services promote domestic growth in Luxembourg? A dynamic general equilibrium analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 103-123.
    14. Melanie Borah, 2020. "Estimating Extended Income Equivalence Scales from Income Satisfaction and Time Use Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 687-718, June.
    15. Joachim R. Frick & Kristina Krell, 2010. "Measuring Income in Household Panel Surveys for Germany: A Comparison of EU-SILC and SOEP," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 265, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Joachim Frick & Kristina Krell, 2011. "Einkommensmessungen in Haushaltspanelstudien für Deutschland: Ein Vergleich von EU-SILC und SOEP," AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv, Springer;Deutsche Statistische Gesellschaft - German Statistical Society, vol. 5(3), pages 221-248, December.

    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. Harley Frazis & Jay Stewart, 2011. "How does household production affect measured income inequality?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(1), pages 3-22, January.
    2. Harley Frazis & Jay Stewart, 2006. "How Does Household Production Affect Earnings Inequality?: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_454, Levy Economics Institute.
    3. Maximilian Stockhausen, 2017. "The Distribution of Economic Resources to Children in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 901, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Stockhausen, Maximilian, 2016. "The Impact of Private and Public Childcare Provision on the Distribution of Children's Incomes in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145638, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Cathleen Zick & W. Bryant & Sivithee Srisukhumbowornchai, 2008. "Does housework matter anymore? The shifting impact of housework on economic inequality," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-28, March.
    6. Harley Frazis & Jay Stewart, 2006. "How Does Household Production Affect Earnings Inequality?: Evidence from the American Time Use Survey," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_454, Levy Economics Institute.
    7. France Caillavet, 1998. "La production domestique des femmes réduit l'inégalité des revenus familiaux," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 311(1), pages 75-89.
    8. Han, Jeehoon & Meyer, Bruce D. & Sullivan, James X., 2020. "Inequality in the joint distribution of consumption and time use," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    9. Andrea Brandolini & Eliana Viviano, 2016. "Accounting for total work in labour statistics [Der Gesamtbetrag der Arbeit in den Arbeitsmarktstatistiken]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 49(3), pages 199-212, November.
    10. Nancy Folbre & Marta Murray-Close & Jooyeoun Suh, 2018. "Equivalence scales for extended income in the U.S," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 189-227, June.
    11. Pia S. Schober & Gundula Zoch, 2015. "Change in the Gender Division of Domestic Work after Mummy or Daddy Took Leave: An Examination of Alternative Explanations," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 803, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Heikkilä, Anni & Piekkola, Hannu, 2003. "Economic Inequality and Household Production - The Effects of Specialization of Genders," Discussion Papers 867, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    13. Anil Alpman & François Gardes, 2016. "Welfare Analysis of the Allocation of Time During the Great Recession," Post-Print halshs-01159507, HAL.
    14. Antonella Caiumi & Federico Perali, 2015. "Who bears the full cost of children? Evidence from a collective demand system," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 33-64, August.
    15. Ezequiel Uriel & Javier Ferri & Maria Luisa Molto, 2005. "Estimation of an Extended SAM with household production for Spain 1995," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 255-278.
    16. Andrea Brandolini & Eliana Viviano, 2014. "Accounting for total work," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 253, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    17. Han, Jeehoon & Kaiser, Caspar, 2021. "Time use and happiness: Evidence across three decades," SocArXiv qjdmu, Center for Open Science.
    18. Hippolyte d’ALBIS & Dalal MOOSA, 2015. "Generational Economics and the National Transfer Accounts," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(4), pages 409-441, December.
    19. Frick, Joachim R. & Grabka, Markus M., 2009. "Accounting for Imputed and Capital Income Flows in Income Inequality Analyses," IZA Discussion Papers 4634, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Sam Cosaert & Veerle Hennebel, 2023. "Parental Childcare with Process Benefits," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(357), pages 339-371, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Home production; Non-cash incomes; Economic inequality; SOEP; Time use; D31; D13; I32;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

    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:spr:empeco:v:43:y:2012:i:3:p:1143-1169. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.