This book provides a comprehensive, modern, and self-contained account of the research in the growing area of family economics. It is intended for graduate students in economics and for researchers in other fields interested in the economic approach to the family.
The existence of the present volume can be traced to methodological concerns about cohort analysis, all of which were evident throughout most of the social sciences by the late 1970s. For some social scientists, they became part of a broader discussion concerning the need for new analytical techniques for research based on longitudinal data. In 1976, the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), with funds from the National Institute of Education, established a Committee on the Methodology of Longitudinal Research. (The scholars who comprised this committee are listed at the front of this volume. ) As part of the efforts of this Committee, an interdisciplinary conference on cohort analysis was held in the summer of 1979, in Snowmass, Colorado. Much of the work presented here stems from that conference, the purpose of which was to promote the development of general methodological tools for the study of social change. The conference included five major presentations by (1) William Mason and Herbert Smith, (2) Karl J6reskog and Dag S6rbom, (3) Gregory Markus, (4) John Hobcraft, Jane Menken and Samuel Preston, and (5) Stephen Fienberg and William Mason. The formal presentations were each followed by extensive discussion, which involved as participants: Paul Baltes, William Butz, Philip Converse, Otis Dudley Duncan, David Freedman, William Meredith, John Nesselroade, Daniel Price, Thomas Pullum, Peter Read, Matilda White Riley, Norman Ryder, Warren Sanderson, Warner Schaie, Burton Singer, Nancy Tuma, Harrison White, and Halliman Winsborough.
Women’s control over decision-making within their family, particularly regarding the use of household income, can play an important and long-lasting role in shaping their well-being and that of their children. Cash transfer programs often target women in order to increase their control over household resources. Empirical evidence on the effectiveness of this approach is mixed and suggests the importance of local context. We present evidence on the effect of cash transfers on women’s control over decision-making in the MENA region, where little evidence is available and where cultural norms around women’s roles differ from more-studied regions. Using a regression discontinuity approach, we identify the impact of Egypt’s “Takaful” national cash transfer program on women’s control over decision-making and labor supply. Receiving cash transfers mostly reduced women’s reported ability to influence household decisions, particularly regarding child healthcare. The loss of control over decision-making was greater for women with less than primary education. Other effects of the program include a decline in women’s employment and an increase in men’s involvement in spheres of decision-making usually controlled by women. These results are robust to changes in model specification. We present suggestive evidence from mediation analysis that the negative effects on women’s control over decision-making was directly related to these declines in employment and increase in men’s involvement in female spheres. The negative findings are not wholly supported by complementary qualitative work in which women reported more positive perceptions of the program’s impacts.
Based on studies from countries in Africa, South America and Asia, looks at small-scale mining activities which often are both illegal and environmentally damaging, and dangerous for workers and their communities. Gives an overview on the issues and challenges involved, concluding about how sustainable development can be achieved.
While this book contains numerous facts and empirical findings and touches on policy issues, its main contribution to the existing literature lies in the theoretical perspective it offers. The core of this book is a general equilibrium theory of labor and marriage presented in Chapter 2, which provides the conceptual framework for the rest of the chapters. Two major implications of the theory are sex ratio effects and compensating differentials in marriage. The book demonstrates how a few core concepts, linked via economic analysis, help explain a multitude of findings based on statistical analyses of data from a wide variety of cultures. It is hoped that readers of this book will improve their understanding of how marriage works to help us design better economic and social policies as well as help people live better and happier lives, making the book of interest to not only economists but sociologists and anthropologists as well.
The transformation of women's lives over the past century is among the most significant and far-reaching of social and economic phenomena, affecting not only women but also their partners, children, and indeed nearly every person on the planet. In developed and developing countries alike, women are acquiring more education, marrying later, having fewer children, and spending a far greater amount of their adult lives in the labor force. Yet, because women remain the primary caregivers of children, issues such as work-life balance and the glass ceiling have given rise to critical policy discussions in the developed world. In developing countries, many women lack access to reproductive technology and are often relegated to jobs in the informal sector, where pay is variable and job security is weak. Considerable occupational segregation and stubborn gender pay gaps persist around the world. The Oxford Handbook of Women and the Economy is the first comprehensive collection of scholarly essays to address these issues using the powerful framework of economics. Each chapter, written by an acknowledged expert or team of experts, reviews the key trends, surveys the relevant economic theory, and summarizes and critiques the empirical research literature. By providing a clear-eyed view of what we know, what we do not know, and what the critical unanswered questions are, this Handbook provides an invaluable and wide-ranging examination of the many changes that have occurred in women's economic lives.
There has recently been an escalated interest in the interface between psychology and economics. The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Economic Behaviour is a valuable reference dedicated to improving our understanding of the economic mind and economic behaviour. Employing empirical methods - including laboratory and field experiments, observations, questionnaires and interviews - the Handbook provides comprehensive coverage of theory and method, financial and consumer behaviour, the environment and biological perspectives. This second edition also includes new chapters on topics such as neuroeconomics, unemployment, debt, behavioural public finance, and cutting-edge work on fuzzy trace theory and robots, cyborgs and consumption. With distinguished contributors from a variety of countries and theoretical backgrounds, the Handbook is an important step forward in the improvement of communications between the disciplines of psychology and economics that will appeal to academic researchers and graduates in economic psychology and behavioral economics.
Surveying a broad body of theory and evidence, the contributors examine the many social and cultural factors that influence decisions at the family and household level about the allocation of time, income, assets, and other resources.
This book brings together a set of contributions that examine the complexities associated with domestic work by highlighting not only the legal issues but also exploring the social, psycho-social, economic, and cultural dimensions of domestic work. The book aims to ignite a collective effort towards ensuring decent work for domestic workers and facilitate a public debate on their rights. It includes discussions on the issue of social justice with special emphasis on invisibilization and undervaluation of domestic work, feminization of domestic work, and recognizes the rights of domestic workers as human rights. The issues covered in this book bridge the gap between legal and social dimensions of domestic work and address the discrimination faced by domestic workers in a holistic manner. Given its scope, the book would appeal to both academics (law as well as social science) and non-academics. It will be a useful tool for teachers, students, practitioners, policy-makers and civil society organizations working for the unorganized sector.