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Are Labor Supply Decisions Consistent with Neoclassical Preferences? Evidence from Indian Boat Owners

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  • Gine, Xavier

    (World Bank)

  • Martinez-Bravo, Monica

    (CEMFI, Madrid)

  • Vidal-Fernandez, Marian

    (University of Sydney)

Abstract

This paper studies the labor supply of South Indian boat owners using daily labor participation decisions of 249 boat owners during seven years. We test the standard neoclassical model of labor supply and find that boat owners' labor participation depends positively on expected earnings but also on recent accumulated earnings, albeit weakly. Participation elasticities with respect to expected earnings range between 0.8 and 1.3 and about -0.05 and -0.01 with respect to changes in recent income. While the standard neoclassical model is statistically rejected, it is a good approximation of the labor supply behavior of boat owners in southern India.

Suggested Citation

  • Gine, Xavier & Martinez-Bravo, Monica & Vidal-Fernandez, Marian, 2016. "Are Labor Supply Decisions Consistent with Neoclassical Preferences? Evidence from Indian Boat Owners," IZA Discussion Papers 10227, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10227
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    Cited by:

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    2. Isabel Z. Martínez & Emmanuel Saez & Michael Siegenthaler, 2021. "Intertemporal Labor Supply Substitution? Evidence from the Swiss Income Tax Holidays," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(2), pages 506-546, February.
    3. David Staines, 2023. "Stochastic Equilibrium the Lucas Critique and Keynesian Economics," Papers 2312.16214, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2024.
    4. Barbos, Andrei & Kaisen, Joshua, 2022. "An Example of Negative Wage Elasticity for YouTube Content Creators," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 382-400.
    5. Zubrickas, Robertas, 2023. "The relative income effect and labor supply," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 176-184.
    6. Sun, Hao & Wang, Hai & Wan, Zhixi, 2019. "Model and analysis of labor supply for ride-sharing platforms in the presence of sample self-selection and endogeneity," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 76-93.
    7. Wang, Hai & Yang, Hai, 2019. "Ridesourcing systems: A framework and review," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 122-155.
    8. Ali Elminejad & Tomas Havranek & Roman Horvath & Zuzana Irsova, 2023. "Intertemporal Substitution in Labor Supply: A Meta-Analysis," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 51, pages 1095-1113, December.
    9. Alessandro Saia, 2022. "Trouble Underground: Demand Shocks and the Labor Supply Behavior of New York City Taxi Drivers," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 8(1), pages 1-27, March.
    10. Tess M. Stafford, 2018. "Do workers work more when earnings are high?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-11, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    intertemporal labor supply; daily income;

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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