John Knowles: Working Papers
Title: Why Are Married Men Working So Much?
Authors: John Knowles
First Version: July 2005
Current Version: March 2008
Abstract:
Empirical patterns of labor supply at the micro level tend to reject the unitary
model assumption implicit in most macro theories, where households are the
deemed to be rational agents. This paper examines the rise in in per-capita
labor since 1975 and asks how the inclusion of bargaining between spouses in
a standard macro model would alter the analysis of recent trends in aggregate
labor supply. The main findings are that the stationarity of married men's
work hours reflects weakening of men's bargaining position as women's wages
rose, and that the unitary model seriously overstates the response of aggregate
labor to trends in relative wages.
Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: E130, J120, J160,
J200, J220
JEL Keywords: General Aggregative Models: Neoclassical;Time Allocation
and Labor Supply;Economics of Gender; Marriage; Marital Dissolution;