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Spousal labour supply and marriage market in Spain

Author

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  • Loren Salas, Alexia

Abstract

This paper estimates a collective model of household labour supply for married couples in Spain using microdata from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for the period 2005-2019. Following the semilog specification of Chiappori et al. (2002), I estimate labour supply equations for wives and husbands as functions of own wages, partner wages, household non-labour income, and demographic characteristics. The estimated own-wage elasticities are negative for both spouses, indicating that income effects dominate substitution effects. The elasticity is larger in absolute value for wives (−0.38) than for husbands (−0.10), consistent with previous evidence that female labour supply is more responsive to wage changes. Non-labour income of both spouses is negatively associated with hours worked, consistent with the predictions of the collective model regarding the role of distribution factors. These results provide empirical evidence on intrahousehold labour supply dynamics in Spain and contribute to testing collective household models in a Southern European institutional context.

Suggested Citation

  • Loren Salas, Alexia, 2026. "Spousal labour supply and marriage market in Spain," MPRA Paper 129358, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:129358
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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