The Estimation of Household Production Functions: An Improved Way to Examine Production in the Nonmarket Sector

In the economic literature, two schools of thought about the behavior of households have emerged. The premise of the first group is that people behave rationally and entirely according to economic principles. The second school of thought holds that (1) rationality involves a careful consideration of alternatives; (2) the behavior of many women is governed by adherence to tradition and not by an examination of possible alternatives; and (3) therefore these women cannot be said to act rationally; (4) consequently, attempts to analyze the behavior of men and women regarding the allocation of time for work at home, are doomed to failure. The results of this research indicate that the first group is wrong. However, a theory is developed by which the preferences of individuals are quantified so that economic analysis can be applied to behavior in the household.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Economics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Green, Carole Ann

• Economics, Labor

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8302868

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/70731