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Childcare and commitment within households

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  • Paula Gobbi

    (Université catholique de Louvain)

Abstract

Parental time with children increases with the education of both the mother and the father. As the education of parents increases, the gap between childcare supplied by mothers relative to that supplied by fathers decreases. A two steps semi-cooperative marital decision model is proposed to explain these two facts. First, parents collectively choose the amount of labor to supply and, in a second step, each of them chooses the amount of childcare as the outcome of a Cournot game. This framework gives rise to indeterminacy of the equilibrium and four selection criteria are proposed: one of a machist society, one of a feminist society, one of a random equilibrium and a last one that estimates the degree of social gender bias towards men. The semi-cooperative theoretical frameworks with the random selection criterion and the criterion that estimates the bias towards men provide the best match with the data.

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  • Paula Gobbi, 2014. "Childcare and commitment within households," 2014 Meeting Papers 633, Society for Economic Dynamics.
  • Handle: RePEc:red:sed014:633
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    Cited by:

    1. Matthias Doepke & Michèle Tertilt, 2019. "Does female empowerment promote economic development?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 309-343, December.
    2. Farzana AFRIDI & Monisankar BISHNU & Kanika MAHAJAN, 2024. "What determines women's labor supply? The role of home productivity and social norms," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 90(1), pages 55-87, March.
    3. de la Croix, David & Perrin, Faustine, 2018. "How far can economic incentives explain the French fertility and education transition?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 221-245.
    4. Gobbi, Paula Eugenia & Baudin, Thomas & De Rock, Bram, 2021. "Economics and family structures," CEPR Discussion Papers 16516, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Takuya Obara & Yoshitomo Ogawa, 2024. "Optimal taxation in an endogenous fertility model with non-cooperative behavior," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 173-197, March.
    6. Philip DeCicca & Harry Krashinsky, 2023. "The effect of education on overall fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 471-503, January.
    7. David de la Croix & Clara Delavallade, 2018. "Religions, Fertility, And Growth In Southeast Asia," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 59(2), pages 907-946, May.
    8. Paula E. Gobbi & Juliane Parys & Gregor Schwerhoff, 2018. "Intra‐household allocation of parental leave," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(1), pages 236-274, February.
    9. Laurens Cherchye & Pierre-André Chiappori & Bram De Rock & Charlotte Ringdal & Frederic Vermeulen, 2021. "Feed the children," IFS Working Papers W21/32, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    10. Libertad González & Hosny Zoabi, 2021. "Does Paternity Leave Promote Gender Equality within Households?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9430, CESifo.
    11. Arthur Lewbel & Krishna Pendakur, 2024. "Estimating a model of inefficient cooperation and consumption in collective households," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 865-907, September.
    12. Michael Bar & Moshe Hazan & Oksana Leukhina & David Weiss & Hosny Zoabi, 2018. "Why did rich families increase their fertility? Inequality and marketization of child care," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 427-463, December.
    13. Arthur Lewbel & Krishna Pendakur, 2022. "Inefficient Collective Households: Cooperation and Consumption," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(645), pages 1882-1893.
    14. Gupta, Tanu & Negi, Digvijay, 2021. "Daughter Vs. Daughter-in-Law: Kinship Roles and Women’s Time Use in India," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315021, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Alice Schoonbroodt, 2018. "Parental child care during and outside of typical work hours," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 453-476, June.
    16. David de la Croix & Faustine Perrin, 2016. "French Fertility and Education Transition: Rational Choice vs. Cultural Diffusion," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2016007, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    17. David de la Croix & Thomas Baudin, 2015. "La croissance économique," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2015021, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    18. Hazan, Moshe & Zoabi, Hosny & Weiss, David & Leukhina, Oksana & Bar, Michael, 2017. "Is The Market Pronatalist? Inequality, Differential Fertility, and Growth Revisited," CEPR Discussion Papers 12376, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Takuya Obara & Yoshitomo Ogawa, 2020. "Optimal Taxation in an Endogenous Fertility Model with Non-Cooperative Couples," Discussion Paper Series 211, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University, revised Jan 2021.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • 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
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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