We extend the collective model of household behavior to allow for the
existence of public consumption. We show how this model allows to analyze
welfare consequences of policies aimed at changing the distribution of
power within the household. In particular, we claim that our setting provides
an adequate conceptual framework for addressing issues linked to the
’targetting’ of specific benefits or taxes. We also show that the observation
of the labor supplies and the household demand for the public good allow
to identify individual welfare and the decision process. This requires either
a separability assumption, or the presence of a distribution factor
