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Engines of Liberation

Author

Listed:
  • Jeremy Greenwood

    (University of Rochester)

  • Ananth Seshadri

    (University of Wisconsin)

  • Mehmet Yorukoglu

    (Sabanci Universitesi)

Abstract

Electricity was born at the dawn of the last century. Households are inundated with a flood of consumer durables. What was the impact of this consumer goods revolution. It is argued here that the consumer goods revolution was conducive to liberating women from the home. To analyze this hypothesis, a Beckerian model of household production is developed. Households must decide whether or not to adopt the new technologies and whether a married woman should work. Can such a model help to explain the rise in married female labor-force participation that occurred in the last century? Yes.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeremy Greenwood & Ananth Seshadri & Mehmet Yorukoglu, 2003. "Engines of Liberation," RCER Working Papers 503, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER).
  • Handle: RePEc:roc:rocher:503
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    The second industrial revolution; technology adoption; household production theory; female labor force participation.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • N1 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations

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