Readings and slides will be published here before the relevant seminar.
Further course information can be found here.
Interesting links to article and podcasts can be found here.
Key Dates
- 19th Feb: Question Outline. Each student will identify a research question related to the economics of the family. You will write a one page paper to motivate your question’s importance and provide some intuition for a possible answer, building upon the literature on your chosen topic.
- 24th Feb: Problem set handed out.
- 11th March: Problem set answers due.
- 11th March: Mid-term draft due. You will develop your research question into the outline of a research proposal. This should contain a literature review that places the project in context, fleshed out hypotheses, and an economic model that formalizes your intuition.
- 6th May: Final draft due. The final paper will incorporate any feedback you receive on your midterm draft, identify a primary data source and specify a detailed empirical approach. Students are encouraged to, and will be supported in carrying out, some preliminary data description and analysis
Week 1 (20 Jan): Introduction & Overview of Changes in the Family & Women’s Economic Status
- M. Browning, A. Chiappori and Y. Weiss, Family Economics, Chapter 1
- S. Lundberg and R. Pollak, “The American Family and Family Economics”, Journal of
Economic Perspectives, 21 (Spring 2007). - C. Goldin, “The `Quiet Revolution’ That Transformed Women’s Employment, Education, and Family”, American Economic Review (Ely Lecture), 96 (May 2006).
Week 2 (27 Jan): Models of the Family & Cooperation
- Browning, Chiappori & Weiss: Chapter 3
- S. Lundberg, R. Pollak and T. Wales, “Do Husbands and Wives Pool Their Resources? Evidence from the United Kingdom Child Benefit”, The Journal of Human Resources, 32 (Summer, 1997).
- *E. Duflo, “Grandmothers and Granddaughters: Old-Age Pensions and Intrahousehold Allocation in South Africa”, World Bank Economic Review, 17 (2003).
- *C. Udry, “Gender, Agricultural Production, and the Theory of the Household”, The Journal of Political Economy, 104 (1996).
- T. Bergstrom, “Puzzles: Love and Spaghetti, The Opportunity Cost of Virtue”, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 3 (1989).
Week 3 (3 Feb): Dynamic Models of the Family and Risk Sharing
- *J. Robinson, “Limited Insurance within the Household: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya“, AEJ: Applied Economics, (2012)
- *S. Schaner, “Do Opposites Detract? Intrahousehold Preference Heterogeneity and Inefficient Strategic Savings“, AEJ: Applied Economics, 7 (2015)
- *S. Dercon and P. Krishnan, “In Sickness and in Health: Risk Sharing within Households in Rural Ethiopia“, Journal of Political Economy (2000).
- J. Lise and Y. Kamada, “Household Sharing and Commitment: Evidence from Panel Data on Individual Expenditures and Time Use”, WP.
- Browning, Chiappori & Weiss: Chapter 6
Week 4 (10 Feb): Marriage – Trends & Assortative Matching
- *B. Stevenson, and J Wolfers,“Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(2): 27-52 (2007).
- *P. Smock, “Cohabitation in the U.S.: An Appraisal of Research Themes, Findings, and Implications“, Annual Review of Sociology 26 (2000)
- *Fryer, Roland G. Jr. “Guess Who’s Been Coming to Dinner? Trends in Interracial Marriage over the 20th Century.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(2) (2007).
- J. Greenwood, N. Guner, G. Kocharkov, C. Santos “Marry Your Like: Assortative Mating and Income Inequality” American Economic Review P&P (2014)
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R Abramitzky, A Delavande and L Vasconcelos, “Marrying Up: The Role of Sex Ratio in Assortative Matching” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3 (2011)
Week 5 (17 Feb): Marriage – Matching Markets and Bride Prices
- *D. Gale and L. Shapley, “College Admissions and the Stability of Marriage“, American Mathematical Monthly, 69 (1962)
- *S. Anderson, “The Economics of Dowry and Brideprice,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21 (2007).
- G. Hitsch, A. Hotacsu, and D. Ariely, “Matching and Sorting in Online Dating“, American Economic Review, 100(1) (2010)
- N. Ashraf, N. Blau, N. Nunn and A. Voena “Bride Price and Female Education“, 2016.
Week 6 (24 Feb): Divorce
- *G. Becker, E. Landes, and R. Michael, “An Economic Analysis of Marital Instability“, Journal of Political Economy, 1977.
- *J. Wolfers, “Did Unilateral Divorce Laws Raise Divorce Rates?“, American Economic Review, 2006.
- B. Stevensen and J. Wolfers, “Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: Divorce Laws and Family Distress“, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2006.
- B. Stevenson, “The Impact of Divorce Laws on Marriage-Specific Capital“, Journal of Labor Economics 25 (2007).
Week 7 (2 March): Fertility & Child Development
- *J Feyrer, B. Sacerdote, and A. Stern, “Will the Stork Return to Europe and Japan? Understanding Fertility Within Developed Nations“, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2008.
- *G. Becker, “An Economic Analysis of Fertility“, 1960.
- C. Goldin and L. Katz, “The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women’s Marriage and Career Decisions“, Journal of Political Economy, 2002.
- K. Milligan, “Subsidising the Stork: New Evidence on Tax Incentives and Fertility“, Review of Economics and Statistics, 2002.
Week 8 (9 March): Family Structure
- *S. McLanahan and C. Percheski, “Family Structure and the Reproduction of Inequalities“, Annual Reviews of Sociology, 2008
- *G. Conti and J. Heckman, “The Economics of Child Wellbeing“, 2012.
- S. Black, P. Devereux, and K. Salvanes, “The More the Merrier? the Impact of Family Size and Birth Order on Child’s Education“, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2005.
- B. Sacerdote, “How Large Are the Effects from Changes in Family Environment? A Study of Korean American Adoptees“, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2007.
Week 9 (30 March): Home Production
- *R. Gronau, “Leisure, Home Production, and Work – the Theory of the Allocation of Time Revisited“, Journal of Political Economy, 85 (1977).
- *J. Greenwood, A. Seshadri and M. Yorukoglu, “Engines of Liberation,” Review of Economic Studies, 72 (2005)
- J. Guryan, E. Hurst and M. Kearney, “Parental Education and Parental Time with Children“, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22 (2008)
- A. Solaz, “Division of Domestic Work: Is There Adjustment Between Partners when One is Unemployed?”, Review of the Economics of the Household, 3 (2005).
Week 10 (6 April): Family Friendly Policies
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S. Lundberg and E. Rose, “Parenthood and the Earnings of Married Men and Women” Labour Economics 7 (2000)
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M. Baker and K. Milligan, “How Does Job Protected Maternity Leave Affect Mothers’ Employment?” Journal of Labor Economics 26 (2008)
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F. Blau and L. Kahn, “Female Labor Supply: Why Is the United States Falling Behind?,” American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings 103 (2013)
Week 11 (13 April): Earnings and Occupational Differences
- F. Blau and L. Kahn, “Gender Differences in Pay,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14 (2000).
- J. Borjas, Labor Economics, (2005), read p356-78, 385-92 in Chapter 10.
- C. Goldin and C. Rouse, “Orchestrating Impartiality“, American Economic Review 90 (2000).
- M. Niederle and L. Vesterlund, “Explaining the Gender Gap in Test Scores: The Role of Competition“, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24 (2010).
Week 12 (20 April): Workplace Flexibility
- C. Goldin, “The Long Road to the Fast Track: Career and Family“, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science}, 596 (2004).
- C. Goldin, “A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter“, American Economic Review, 104 (2014).
- H. Bushy, “Are Women Opting Out? Debunking the Myth“, Washington DC: Centre for Economic and Policy Research, (2005).
- C. Goldin and L. Katz, “The Cost of Workplace Flexibility for High-Powered Professionals“, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, (2011).
- B. Stevenson & J. Wolfers, “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness“
Week 13 (27 April): Higher Education
- Goldin, L. Katz and I. Kuziemko, “The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the College Gender Gap“, Journal of Economic Perspectives 20 (2006).
- C. Goldin and L. Katz, “Transitions: Career and Family Life Cycles of the Educational Elite”, American Economic Review, Papers & Proceedings, (2008).
- D. Costa and M. Kahn, “Power Couples: Changes in the Locational Choice of the College Educated, 1940-1990“, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115 (2000).
- M. Bertrand, C. Goldin, and L. Katz, “Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the Financial and Corporate Sectors”, AEJ: Applied Economics 2 (2010).