Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Feedback
    • Request JHR at your library
    • Research Highlights
  • Alerts
  • Special Issue
  • Other Publications
    • UWP

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Human Resources
  • Other Publications
    • UWP
  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Human Resources

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current
    • Ahead of print
    • Archive
    • Supplementary Material
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Feedback
    • Request JHR at your library
    • Research Highlights
  • Alerts
  • Special Issue
  • Follow uwp on Twitter
Research ArticleArticles

Are Children Really Inferior Goods?

Evidence from Displacement-Driven Income Shocks

Jason M. Lindo
Journal of Human Resources, March 2010, 45 (2) 301-327; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.45.2.301
Jason M. Lindo
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

This paper explores the causal link between income and fertility by analyzing women’s fertility response to the large and permanent income shock generated by a husband’s job displacement. I find that the shock reduces total fertility, suggesting that the causal effect of income on fertility is positive. A model that incorporates the time cost of children and assortative matching of spouses can simultaneously explain this result and the negative cross-sectional relationship. I also find that a husband’s displacement accelerates childbearing, which is consistent with lifecycle models of fertility in which the incentive to delay is driven by expected earnings growth.

  • Received February 2008.
  • Accepted November 2008.

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 45, Issue 2
1 Mar 2010
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Human Resources.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Are Children Really Inferior Goods?
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Human Resources
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Human Resources web site.
Citation Tools
Are Children Really Inferior Goods?
Jason M. Lindo
Journal of Human Resources Mar 2010, 45 (2) 301-327; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.45.2.301

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Are Children Really Inferior Goods?
Jason M. Lindo
Journal of Human Resources Mar 2010, 45 (2) 301-327; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.45.2.301
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Cash Transfers and Fertility: How the Introduction and Cancellation of a Child Benefit Affected Births and Abortions
  • Cash for Kids
  • Booms, Busts, and Fertility: Testing the Becker Model Using Gender-Specific Labor Demand
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Taken by Storm
  • Selection into Identification in Fixed Effects Models, with Application to Head Start
  • Dynamics of the Gender Gap in High Math Achievement
Show more Articles

Similar Articles

UWP

© 2023 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Powered by HighWire