Household time allocation – Theoretical and empirical results from Denmark

Using data from a sample of households in 1994 we find that Danish household labour allocation choices are best described by a collective model in which decisions are made cooperatively. Individual preferences are similar but there are important differences due to the differences in educational attainment. Households can be characterized as utilitarian with a sharing rule which depends on household income and is feminist rather than egalitarian. The allocation of tasks within the family depends on both the individuals’ comparative advantage in labour markets and individual preferences for paid work as well as the intra-household distribution of income. These results do not require explicit assumptions about labour supply that are often employed in the household time allocation literature.Household time allocations, unitary and cooperative models, Denmark

Pooling of Income and Sharing of Consumption within Households

There are extensive literatures within economics and economic psychology on the allocation of household income within the household. These two literatures are largely disjoint but both use a concept of ‘income pooling’. In economics this refers to the independence of household decisions from who receives the income within the household. In economic psychology it refers to the management of household finances. This article uses a new Danish expenditure survey that gives information on both concepts and on the assignment of expenditures to consider the link between the two. More importantly, we investigate whether either type of pooling is related to the sharing of expenditures between the two partners. We find that sharing does depend on who receives the income within non-pooling households, but not on the economic psychological income pooling regime per se.household production and intra-household allocation; personal income; wealth and their distributions; methodology for collecting, estimating, and organizing microeconomic data; marriage and family

Stress, time use and gender

This paper studies the gender aspect of stress within a Scandinavian welfare state regime with high employment rates for both women and men. By applying an economic model, an extended model and a stress-level model, we find that higher incomes lead to stress among women, somewhat confirming findings for Australia, Germany, Canada, Korea, and the US. The number of working hours on the labour market, however, has no impact on stress. In terms of employed women, household work acts as de-stressors, whereas rush hour pressure, which is introduced for the first time here, acts as stressors. Moreover, the wife’s contribution to household work almost increases the husband’s feeling of being “always” stressed, while the husband’s contribution implies that the wife is nearly less stressed. These results underline the importance of including financial as well as cross-partner information when analysing the presence of stress.Stress, time allocation, leisure, gender

"Time and Money: Substitutes in Real Terms and Complements in Satisfactions"

Time and money are basic commodities in the utility function and are substitutes in real terms. To a certain extent, having time and money is a matter of either/or, depending on individual preferences and budget constraints. However, satisfaction with time and satisfaction with money are typically complements, i.e., individuals tend to be equally satisfied with both domains. In this paper, we provide an explanation for this apparent paradox through the analysis of the simultaneous determination of economic satisfaction and leisure satisfaction. We test some hypotheses, including the hypothesis that leisure satisfaction depends on both the quantity and quality of leisure-where quality is proxied by good intensiveness and social intensiveness. Our results show that both the quantity and the quality of leisure are important determinants of leisure satisfaction, and, since having money contributes to the quality of leisure, this explains the empirical findings of the satisfactions being complementary at the same time as the domains are substitutes. Interestingly, gender matters. Intra-household effects and especially individual characteristics are more pronounced for women than for men for both domain satisfactions. Additionally, good intensiveness is more important for men (e.g., housing conditions), whereas social intensiveness is more important for women (e.g., the presence of children and participation in leisure-time activities).

The Acceptance and Profitability of Mixed Cropping with Legumes and Non-Legumes

Mixed cropping, the simultaneous cultivation of two or more coexisting crops in one field, is one possibility to increase biodiversity within farming systems. However, adoption of mixed cropping systems is challenging for farmers, as the agricultural sector has evolved around pure stands and path dependencies have emerged. Thus the adoption of this cropping method is low and so far, only very limited research focused on the farmers’ acceptance of these cropping systems. Therefore, it is the aim of this dissertation to analyze the adoption and profitability of mixed cropping with legume and non-legumes. The first paper of the cumulative thesis analyzes the influence of psychological factors on German farmers’ intention to adopt mixed cropping. In addition, the most crucial adop-tion obstacles are assessed. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, the results show that attitude, perceived behavioral control, and injunctive as well as descriptive group norms explain a substantial share of farmers’ intention to adopt mixed cropping. The second paper addresses the profitability of mixed cropping on a farm level basis. The paper evaluates the profitability of mixed stands using the example of winter faba bean and winter wheat based on the results of scientific field trials conducted in Göttingen. The results indicate that mixed cropping with winter faba bean and winter wheat in the implemented form is currently not economically competitive in the conven-tional German agriculture. Applying a sensitivity analysis to a whole-farm model allowed the identi-fication of critical values for the gross margins of the mixed stand. These show that the gross mar-gins would have to surpass that of the dominantly produced cereals in the pure stand to be integrat-ed into the economically optimized production program. The third paper analyzes German farmer willingness to accept gross margin reductions for the more sustainable cultivation method of mixed cropping. This article provides first empirical insights into farmers stated willingness to accept gross margin changes compared to current production possibilities. German conventional farmers with a positive, neutral and negative willingness to accept reductions in gross margins as the trade-off for ecological benefits can be distinguished. Using an ordered logistic model the results show that risk attitude, risk perception, the number of measures performed for ecological focus areas, the farmer’s age and being located in the south of Germany influence their willingness to accept gross margin changes compared to currently produced cereals. As an excursus, the fourth paper of the thesis fo-cuses on the adoption of smartphone apps in crop protection. Crop protection apps are a decision support tool for farmers that enable them to improve their crop protection strategies, which inter alia can reduce negative environmental externalities and thus facilitate a more sustainable crop produc-tion. Based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology framework, applying par-tial least squares equation modeling and a binary logit model, this paper investigated factors influ-encing the adoption of crop protection apps. The results show mismatch between apps perceived as useful and apps currently used, which has direct implications for the development of new crop pro-tection related apps that will help reduce negative externalities. The studies in this dissertation con-tribute to the identification of possible pathways to facilitate the adoption of mixed cropping by German farmers. Identifying behavioral drivers of adoption and evaluating the profitability aspects provides valuable insights for policy makers with respect to a possible implementation of agri-environmental schemes and the extent to which financial incentives would be necessary.2021-11-1

Neurological soft signs in adolescents are associated with brain structure and postural control

Neurological soft signs (NSS) are minor deviations from the norm in sensory and motor performance. NSS exist in the general population but are more frequently found in cohorts with neurodevelopmental disorders. NSS are considered a diffuse and unspecific marker of altered neurodevelopment but receive increasing attention since the presence of NSS in children has been found to be predictive of psychiatric disorders in late adolescence. To date, only little is known about potential neurodevelopmental alterations that may underlay the presence of NSS. The prevalence of NSS has been shown to decrease during adolescence as part of continued neural development and brain re-wiring processes. Therefore, adolescence has been proposed as an important phase for the manifestation or outgrowing of NSS. The underlying mechanisms that may underly this process, however, are largely unknown. As NSS are subtle signs and commonly identified by subjective observer-based neurological examinations, quantitative tools may help to objectively investigate functional and structural correlates associated with NSS. For the work included in this dissertation, healthy adolescent athletes from three European countries were investigated. All participants underwent a neurological examination, resulting in a categorization of participants into groups with and without NSS (NSS+/NSS-). A total NSS score was calculated to provide a continuous measure spanning the whole spectrum of NSS. Two quantitative tools were used to investigate functional and structural correlates of NSS in healthy adolescents: Study I) Instrumented force plate measures to investigate postural control (Bonke et al., 2023), and Study II) Structural magnetic resonance imaging to investigate brain morphology and white matter microstructure (Bonke et al., 2022). Study I aimed to investigate the incremental value of instrumented force plate measures in addition to observer-based neurological examinations. Such associations have not been assessed before but are important for capturing subtle alterations in postural control. This will help to acquire a more comprehensive assessment of motor development. We found no statistically significant differences in postural control between NSS+ and NSS- group. However, participants performing non-optimal in the diadochokinesis sub-test measuring pronation/supination of forearms showed significantly reduced postural control in the medial-lateral (ML) direction. Moreover, the total NSS score correlated significantly with postural control performance in the ML direction. Findings from this study reveal that adolescents with NSS, and in particular adolescents that perform non-optimal in pronation/supination movements of the forearms also perform worse in ML postural control assessed by force plate assessments. As pronation/supination movements of forearms and ML postural control continue to mature until adolescence, it can be assumed that these functions are related and may indicate altered motor development. Study II aimed to identify and characterize NSS-related brain structure alterations using structural magnetic resonance imaging. NSS-related brain structure alterations have not yet been investigated in healthy adolescents. However, this investigation is of high relevance to better understand potential alterations in adolescent brain-rewiring processes related to NSS. Using T1-weighted imaging, we found significantly higher gyrification in the left superior frontal and parietal lobe in the group of adolescents with NSS, likely reflecting alterations in synaptic pruning. We did not find differences in cortical volume or thickness. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we found lower tissue fractional anisotropy (FAt) and higher tissue radial diffusivity (RDt) in widespread white matter clusters in the group of adolescents with NSS, likely indicating alterations in myelination. Findings from this study reveal that NSS in healthy adolescents are associated with brain structure alterations that can be objectively quantified using magnetic resonance imaging. As of now, the relevance of NSS-related brain structure alterations in otherwise healthy adolescents is not fully understood. Future studies should assess whether these alterations may explain the described association between NSS and psychiatric disorders. In summary, the work presented in this doctoral dissertation uses two different quantitative measures to objectively investigate functional and structural differences between adolescents with and without NSS. Insights derived from this work show the beneficial use of instrumented tools to complement neurological examinations for a better understanding of functional and structural correlates of NSS. This work will help to generate a more complete picture of NSS-related developmental alterations and potentially related psychiatric vulnerabilities. Future research should make use of larger and more representative datasets to replicate, as well as extend our findings. Specific attention should be drawn on the investigation of factors that contribute to the development of NSS, longitudinal studies that allow to capture NSS-related alterations in developmental trajectories, as well as on investigating the underlying neural mechanisms of NSS

Income Pooling and Household Division of Labor: Evidence from Danish Couples

If income pooling indicates primary earners' willingness to trade part of their income with spouses who earn less and work more in household production, then among specialized couples income pooling will be positively associated with the price of commercial domestic services, substitutes for household production. In line with our prediction, analyses of data from a unique Danish household survey show that complete income pooling is more frequent where commercial domestic services are more expensive.home production, income pooling, household finance, domestic services

Los conceptos de trabajo y de cuidado y atención: una perspectiva económica

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