Commuting Time and Labour Supply: A Causal Effect?

We analyze the causal effect of the length of the worker’s commute on worker's productivity, by examining whether commuting time has any effect on worker's labour market supply. Using the Spanish Time Use Survey 2002-03, our GMM/IV estimation yields a positive causal impact of commuting time on the time devoted to the labour market, with one hour of commuting increasing the time devoted to the labour market by 35 minutes in a working day. Our results shed light on the relationship between commuting and workers behaviour, since daily labour supply should be considered in theoretical models to provide a comprehensive view of commuter behaviour.commuting, labour supply, productivity, causality, Time Use Survey

The Motherhood Wage Penalty in a Mediterranean Country: The Case of Spain

We present evidence for the motherhood wage penalty in Spain as a representative Southern European Mediterranean country. We use the European Community Household Panel (ECHP, 1994-2001) to estimate, from both pool and fixed-effects methods, a wage equation in terms of observed variables and other non-observed individual characteristics. The empirical results confirm that there is clear evidence of a wage penalty for Spanish working women with children. Specifically, the fact that there is a birth in the family during the current year means that the woman loses 9% of her wage. We also find that having one child living in the household means a significant loss in wages of 6%, having two children, almost 14%, and having three or more, more than 15%.motherhood wage penalty, fixed-effects estimation, Spain

Unemployment and Time Use: Evidence from the Spanish Time Use Survey

In this paper we use a time use approach to analyze the average effect of aggregate unemployment on the daily life of individuals, focusing on the relationship between reduced market work and additional household production of unemployed individuals. Using the Spanish Time Use Survey 2002-2003, we find that, in general, the unemployed devote most of the reduced market time to additional leisure, and only a small proportion of time is devoted to household production activities. However, we find that the relationship between market work and household production with unemployment of individuals depends on regional unemployment rates, since in areas with high unemployment rates reduced market work is made up by additional time spent in household production. Our paper sheds light on the relationship between individuals’ time allocation decisions and aggregate macroeconomic variables.Unemployment, Time Use, Aggregate Unemployment, Enjoyment Data

Dynamics of Intrahousehold Bargaining

This paper studies the dynamics of bargaining in an intrahousehold context. To explore long-term partner relationships, we analyse bilateral bargaining by considering that spouses take decisions sequentially. We conclude that a greater valuation of the present, rather than the future, for the spouse who takes the second decision, increases the set of possible sustainable agreements, as well as the proportion of time that this agent devotes to a family good.Stackelberg game, family bargaining, family good

Intra-household Time Allocation: Gender Differences in Caring for Children

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht auf Basis von Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels für Deutschland (SOEP), inwieweit selbständige Ausländer in Deutschland überdurchschnittlich hohe Einkommen erzielen. Die Untersuchung zeigt, dass ausländische Selbständige insgesamt höhere Einkommen erzielen als angestellt tätige Ausländer und dass der Unterschied größer ist als bei Selbständigen deutscher Nationalität. Die Konsequenzen dieser Untersuchungsergebnisse für Wirtschaftspolitikund Gründungslehre werden diskutiert. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung zeigen differenzierten Forschungsbedarf im Hinblick auf unterschiedliche Optionen der Entrepreneurship Education. This paper analyses the intra-household allocation of time to show gender differences in childcare. In the framework of a general efficiency approach, hours spent on childcare by each parent are regressed against individual and household characteristics, for five samples (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), with data being drawn from the European Community Household Panel-ECHP (1994-2001). Empirical results show a clear inequality in childcare between fathers and mothers, with this being more evident in Mediterranean countries. Panel data estimates reveal that, in general, caring tasks are mainly influenced by the presence of young children in the household, by the total non-labor income, and by the ratio of mothers' non-labor income to family's non-labor income, with this latter variable exhibiting a different behavior across genders and across countries.Childcare, gender differences, intra-household allocation, time use

Separabilidad intertemporal de las preferencias de los consumidores en España

In this paper we characterize an intertemporal nonadditive preferences structure (SNAP) fram which we derive a demand system that mantains intertemporal dependences and which includes additivity as a special case. This non separable model over time is estimated on Spain aggregate annual time-series data for five goods and from 1964 to 1991. The main result is that spanish consumers reject time separability of preferences, which shows the superiority of the nonadditive model over its time-separable counterpart, AIDS.En este trabajo caracterizamos una estructura de preferencias individuales intertemporalmente no aditivas (SNAP) a partir de la cual derivamos un sistema de demanda que mantiene las dependencias temporales y que incluye la aditividad como un caso especial. Dicho modelo no separable en el tiempo se estima para España con series temporales de gastos de consumo privado desagregados en cinco categorías cubriendo el período muestral 1964-1991. El resultado fundamental es que los consumidores españoles rechazan la separabilidad intertemporal de las preferencias, lo cual revela la superioridad del modelo no aditivo sobre su contrapartida estática, el AIDS

Intra-Household Time Allocation: Gender Differences in Caring for Children

This paper analyses the intra-household allocation of time to show gender differences in childcare. In the framework of a general efficiency approach, hours spent on childcare by each parent are regressed against individual and household characteristics, for five samples (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), with data being drawn from the European Community Household Panel-ECHP (1994-2001). Empirical results show a clear inequality in childcare between fathers and mothers, with this being more evident in Mediterranean countries. Panel data estimates reveal that, in general, caring tasks are mainly influenced by the presence of young children in the household, by the total non-labor income, and by the ratio of mothers' non-labor income to family's non-labor income, with this latter variable exhibiting a different behavior across genders and across countries.childcare, gender differences, intra-household allocation, time use

Exploring household heterogeneities of the Deaton-Paxson puzzle: Evidence for Argentina

Theory predicts that economies of scale associated with the consumption of shared household public goods make larger families better off, given the same level of per capita expenditure or income. Public goods are relatively cheaper, while per capita expenditure on the private good will increase, as long as it is not easily substitutable, as in the case of food. However, Deaton and Paxson (1998) found exactly the opposite: food share declines with the number of heads, keeping household per capita expenditure constant. This paper aims to better understand the heterogeneities underlying the Deaton-Paxson paradox in food consumption, using data from the Argentinean Household Expenditure Survey (ENGH, Spanish acronym) for the period 2017/2018. We first differentiate the impact of an additional adult from an additional child on food demand, in families of different sizes. Second, we evaluate the relationship between food demand and household size on the distribution of income. Third, we explore potential associations beyond the conditional mean of food consumption. Because standard analysis focuses on average effects of family size on food demand, the existence of the paradox at the lower and upper end of the conditional food distribution remains unknown. Our evidence supports the findings of Deaton and Paxson (1998), and reveals important differences driving this food puzzle. Our results shed light on the crucial role of economies of scale in poor households.Fil: Echeverría, Lucía. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales; Argentina.Fil: Molina, José Alberto. University of Zaragoza. Department of Economic Analysis; Spain

Health inequality and the uses of time for workers in Europe: policy implications

This paper analyses the relationship between health inequality and the time allocation decisions of workers in six European countries, deriving some important policy implications in the context of income tax systems, regulation of working conditions, and taxes on leisure activities. Using the Multinational Time Use Study, we find that a better perception of own health is associated with more time devoted to market work activities in all six countries and with less time devoted to housework activities for both men and women. However, the evidence for the associations between health and leisure is mixed. This study represents a first step in understanding cross-country differences in the relationship between health status and time devoted to a range of activities for workers, in contrast with other analyses that have mainly focused only on market work. A better understanding of these cross-country differences may help to identify the effects of public policy on inequalities in the uses of time