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Self-enforcing family rules, marriage and the (non)neutrality of public intervention

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  • Alessandro Cigno

    (University of Florence)

  • Mizuki Komura

    (Musashi University)

  • Annalisa Luporini

    (University of Florence)

Abstract

We demonstrate that the notion of a family ‘constitution’ (self-enforcing, renegotiation-proof norm) requiring adults to provide attention for their elderly parents carries over from a world where identical individuals reproduce asexually, to one where individuals differentiated by sex and preferences marry, have children and bargain over the allocation of domestic resources. In this heterogenous world, couples are sorted by their preferences. If a couple’s common preferences satisfy a certain condition, the couple have an interest in instilling those preferences into their children. Policies are generally nonneutral. In particular, wage redistribution may raise, and compulsory education will reduce, the share of the adult population that is governed by family constitutions, and thus the share of the elderly population who receive attention from their children.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessandro Cigno & Mizuki Komura & Annalisa Luporini, 2017. "Self-enforcing family rules, marriage and the (non)neutrality of public intervention," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 805-834, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:30:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s00148-017-0639-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-017-0639-y
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    4. Zimmermann, Klaus F. & Chowdhury, Shyamal & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "Economic preferences across generations and family clusters: A large-scale experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 14998, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Bishnu, Monisankar & Garg, Shresth & Garg, Tishara & Ray, Tridip, 2023. "Intergenerational transfers: Public education and pensions with endogenous fertility," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    6. Richard C. Barnett & Joydeep Bhattacharya & Mikko Puhakka, 2018. "Private versus public old-age security," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 703-746, July.
    7. Koichi Futagami & Kunihiko Konishi, 2019. "Rising longevity, fertility dynamics, and R&D-based growth," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 591-620, April.
    8. Oscar Erixson & Henry Ohlsson, 2019. "Estate division: equal sharing, exchange motives, and Cinderella effects," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1437-1480, October.
    9. Louise Grogan & Fraser Summerfield, 2019. "Government Transfers, Work, and Wellbeing: Evidence from the Russian Old-Age Pension," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1247-1292, October.
    10. Yakita, Akira, 2020. "Economic development and long-term care provision by families, markets and the state," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    11. Alessandro Cigno & Alessandro Gioffré & Annalisa Luporini, 2021. "Evolution of individual preferences and persistence of family rules," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 935-958, December.
    12. Keisuke Kawata & Mizuki Komura, 2023. "Only-child matching penalty in the marriage market," Papers 2307.15336, arXiv.org.
    13. Cigno, A., 2016. "Conflict and Cooperation Within the Family, and Between the State and the Family, in the Provision of Old-Age Security," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-660, Elsevier.
    14. Yakita, Akira, 2018. "Parents’ strategic transfers and sibling competition in the presence of pay-as-you-go pensions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 63-65.
    15. Alger, Ingela & Cox, Donald, 2020. "Evolution of the Family: Theory and Implications for Economics," IAST Working Papers 20-109, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
    16. Gautam Hazarika & Chandan Kumar Jha & Sudipta Sarangi, 2019. "Ancestral ecological endowments and missing women," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1101-1123, October.
    17. Cintya Lanchimba & Joselyn Quisnancela & Yasmín Salazar Méndez, 2020. "The choice of elderly labor: Evidence from Ecuador," Revista de Analisis Economico – Economic Analysis Review, Universidad Alberto Hurtado/School of Economics and Business, vol. 35(1), pages 75-97, April.
    18. Yakita, Akira, 2019. "Optimal long-term care policy in an intergenerational exchange setting," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(4), pages 321-328.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Support of the elderly; Marriage; Matching; Family constitution; Preference transmission; Policy neutrality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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