IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp7848.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Couples' Time Together: Complementarities in Production versus Complementarities in Consumption

Author

Listed:
  • Mansour, Hani

    (University of Colorado Denver)

  • McKinnish, Terra

    (University of Colorado, Boulder)

Abstract

Economists have previously suggested that gains from marriage can be generated by complementarities in production (gains from specialization and exchange) or by complementarities in consumption (gains from joint consumption of household public goods and joint time consumption). This paper uses the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) from 2003-2011 to test whether couples that engage in less specialization (are more similar in hours of market work) spend more time together. We find that among married couples without young children, those with a greater difference in weekly hours of work between husband and wife spend less time together on non-working weekend days. Importantly, we find that this relationship is quite symmetric between couples in which the husband works greater hours and couples in which the wife works greater hours. We do not find evidence of a relationship between specialization and couple time together among couples with young children.

Suggested Citation

  • Mansour, Hani & McKinnish, Terra, 2013. "Couples' Time Together: Complementarities in Production versus Complementarities in Consumption," IZA Discussion Papers 7848, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7848
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp7848.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shelly Lundberg, 2012. "Personality and marital surplus," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Hallberg, Daniel, 2003. "Synchronous leisure, jointness and household labor supply," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 185-203, April.
    3. Stephen P. Jenkins & Lars Osberg, 2003. "Nobody to Play with?: The Implications of Leisure Coordination," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 368, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2007. "Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 27-52, Spring.
    5. Morrill, Melinda Sandler & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2012. "What Effects Do Macroeconomic Conditions Have on Families' Time Together?," IZA Discussion Papers 6529, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. David Lam, 1988. "Marriage Markets and Assortative Mating with Household Public Goods: Theoretical Results and Empirical Implications," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 23(4), pages 462-487.
    7. Kimberly Fisher & Muriel Egerton & Jonathan Gershuny & John Robinson, 2007. "Gender Convergence in the American Heritage Time use Study (AHTUS)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 82(1), pages 1-33, May.
    8. Shelly Lundberg & Elaina Rose, 1998. "The Determinants of Specialization Within Marriage," Working Papers 0048, University of Washington, Department of Economics.
    9. Daniel S. Hamermesh, 2002. "Timing, togetherness and time windfalls," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(4), pages 601-623.
    10. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, May.
    11. Morrill, Melinda Sandler & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2012. "What Effects Do Macroeconomic Conditions Have on Families' Time Together?," IZA Discussion Papers 6529, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst & Loukas Karabarbounis, 2013. "Time Use during the Great Recession," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1664-1696, August.
    13. Daniel S. Hamermesh & Harley Frazis & Jay Stewart, 2005. "Data Watch: The American Time Use Survey," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 221-232, Winter.
    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. Joan García-Román & Sarah Flood & Katie Genadek, 2017. "Parents’ time with a partner in a cross-national context: A comparison of the United States, Spain, and France," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(4), pages 111-144.
    2. Katie R. Genadek & Sarah M. Flood & Joan Garcia Roman, 2016. "Trends in Spouses’ Shared Time in the United States, 1965–2012," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 1801-1820, December.
    3. Sørensen, Jesper R.-V. & Fosgerau, Mogens, 2022. "How McFadden met Rockafellar and learned to do more with less," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    4. Katie Vinopal & Seth Gershenson, 2017. "Re-Conceptualizing Gaps by Socioeconomic Status in Parental Time with Children," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(2), pages 623-643, September.
    5. Canaan, Serena, 2022. "Parental leave, household specialization and children’s well-being," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Liangshu Qi & Haojie Li & Lan Liu, 2017. "A note on Chinese couples’ time synchronization," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1249-1262, December.
    7. Bram Hogendoorn, 2022. "Why do Socioeconomic Differences in Women’s Living Standards Converge After Union Dissolution?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(3), pages 577-622, August.
    8. Sergii Maksymovych, 2017. "Decision-Making in the Household and Material Deprivation," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp604, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    9. Katie R. Genadek & Sarah M. Flood & Joan Garcia Roman, 2020. "Same-Sex Couples’ Shared Time in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 475-500, April.
    10. Giacomo Vagni, 2019. "Alone Together: Gender Inequalities in Couple Time," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 487-509, 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. Katie R. Genadek & Sarah M. Flood & Joan Garcia Roman, 2016. "Trends in Spouses’ Shared Time in the United States, 1965–2012," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 1801-1820, December.
    2. Almudena Sevilla & Jose Gimenez-Nadal & Jonathan Gershuny, 2012. "Leisure Inequality in the United States: 1965–2003," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(3), pages 939-964, August.
    3. Sørensen, Jesper R.-V. & Fosgerau, Mogens, 2022. "How McFadden met Rockafellar and learned to do more with less," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    4. Zhiming Cheng & Russell Smyth, 2017. "China’S Imbalanced Sex Ratio And Satisfaction With Marriage," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 62(04), pages 765-782, September.
    5. Cristina BorraBy & Martin Browning & Almudena Sevilla, 2021. "Marriage and housework [Measuring trends in leisure: the allocation of time over five decades]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 73(2), pages 479-508.
    6. Rachel Connelly & Jean Kimmel, 2009. "Spousal influences on parents’ non-market time choices," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 361-394, December.
    7. Jesper R.-V. Soerensen, 2020. "Testing a Class of Semi- or Nonparametric Conditional Moment Restriction Models using Series Methods," Discussion Papers 20-04, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    8. Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Myers, Caitlin Knowles & Pocock, Mark L., 2006. "Cues for Coordination: Light, Longitude and Letterman," IZA Discussion Papers 2060, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Zhiming Cheng & Russell Smyth, 2015. "China’s Imbalanced Sex Ratio and Satisfaction with Marital Relationships," Monash Economics Working Papers 22-15, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    10. Almudena Sevilla Sanz & Jose Ignacio GImenez Nadal, 2007. "A Note on Leisure Inequality in the US: 1965-2003," Economics Series Working Papers 374, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    11. Tara Watson & Sara McLanahan, 2011. "Marriage Meets the Joneses: Relative Income, Identity, and Marital Status," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(3), pages 482-517.
    12. Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, Jose Alberto, 2015. "Health status and the allocation of time: Cross-country evidence from Europe," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 188-203.
    13. Merz, Joachim & Osberg, Lars, 2006. "Keeping in Touch – A Benefit of Public Holidays," MPRA Paper 5738, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Liangshu Qi & Haojie Li & Lan Liu, 2017. "A note on Chinese couples’ time synchronization," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1249-1262, December.
    15. Sajeda Amin & Luciana Suran, 2009. "Terms of marriage and time-use patterns of young wives – Evidence from rural Bangladesh," electronic International Journal of Time Use Research, Research Institute on Professions (Forschungsinstitut Freie Berufe (FFB)) and The International Association for Time Use Research (IATUR), vol. 6(1), pages 92-108, September.
    16. Shelly Lundberg, 2012. "Personality and marital surplus," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-21, December.
    17. Shelly Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak, 2014. "Cohabitation and the Uneven Retreat from Marriage in the United States, 1950–2010," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital in History: The American Record, pages 241-272, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Olle Folke & Johanna Rickne, 2020. "All the Single Ladies: Job Promotions and the Durability of Marriage," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 260-287, January.
    19. P. Jenkins, Stephen & Osberg, Lars, 2003. "Nobody to play with? The implications of leisure coordination," ISER Working Paper Series 2003-19, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    20. Daniel S. Hamermesh & Caitlin Knowles Myers & Mark L. Pocock, 2006. "Time Zones As Cues For Coordination: Latitude, Longitude, And Letterman," Middlebury College Working Paper Series 0609, Middlebury College, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    joint consumption; home production; time use;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    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:iza:izadps:dp7848. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.