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The Becker Fertility Model: Theory and Critique

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  • Joseph Burke

    (Department of Economics and Business, Ave Maria University)

Abstract

This paper is an exploration of the theoretical properties of the Becker fertility model. I demonstrate that the comparative statics of the Becker fertility model with a general budget constraint and its corresponding expenditure model can be expressed in terms of the ordinary consumer expenditure function with a change of variable. When there are no fixed-costs of quality per child, the Becker fertility model is equivalent to the ordinary consumer model with restrictions on the form of the utility function. Solutions to the Becker fertility model are provided with the Cobb-Douglas, CES, and AIDS specifications under this assumption, Becker’s hypothesis that demand for quality per child increases with income is not valid under any Cobb-Douglas or CES specification, but can be tested with a valid estimation of the AIDS model. I also evaluate the role of fixed-costs of quality per child in Becker’s model and show that they introduce a third term into the Slutsky matrix, i.e. in addition to ordinary substitution and income effects, but that these effects are small when the average fixed costs of quality per child is small relative to the marginal cost of quality per child. When the Becker model is expressed in terms of children, quality, and other goods, children must be a substitute for either their quality or for other goods and either quality or other goods must be a luxury good.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Burke, 2012. "The Becker Fertility Model: Theory and Critique," Working Papers 1201, Ave Maria University, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:avm:wpaper:1201
    as

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    File URL: http://mysite.avemaria.edu/jburke/working-papers/WP1201-Burke-Becker-Fertility-Model-Theory-and-Critique.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deaton,Angus & Muellbauer,John, 1980. "Economics and Consumer Behavior," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521296762, October.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    microeconomic theory; Becker; fertility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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