The Collective Model of the Household and an Unexpected Implication for Child Labor: Hypothesis and an Empirical Test

26 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Ranjan Ray

Ranjan Ray

Monash University - Department of Economics

Kaushik Basu

Cornell University - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics; Brookings Institution

Date Written: December 2001

Abstract

Basu and Ray use the collective model of the household and show, theoretically, that as the woman's power rises, child labor will initially fall, but beyond a point it will tend to rise again. A household with a balanced power structure between the husband and the wife is least likely to send its children to work. An empirical test of this relationship using data from Nepal strongly corroborates the theoretical hypothesis.

This paper - a product of the Office of the Senior Vice President, Development Economics - is part of a larger effort in the Bank to understand how gender affects development outcomes and to identify the causes of poverty. The authors may be contacted at kbasu@mit.edu or ranjan.ray@utas.edu.au.

Suggested Citation

Ray, Ranjan and Basu, Kaushik, The Collective Model of the Household and an Unexpected Implication for Child Labor: Hypothesis and an Empirical Test (December 2001). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=636096

Ranjan Ray (Contact Author)

Monash University - Department of Economics ( email )

Wellington Road
Clayton, Victoria 3
Australia

Kaushik Basu

Cornell University - Department of Economics ( email )

414 Uris Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-7601
United States
607-255-2525 (Phone)
607-255-2818 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Brookings Institution ( email )

1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States