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The measurement of child costs : evidence from Ireland

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  • Olivier Bargain
  • Monnet Gbakou
  • Olivier Donni

Abstract

We apply an extension of the Rothbarth approach to estimate the share of household resources accruing to children (i.e., the cost of children) in Ireland. The method also allows us to identify the economies of scale in the household and indifference scales in Lewbel (2003)'s sense. A practical aspect of the present approach is that it does not require price variation. The identi cation of the children's share requires the observation of adult-speci c goods as in the traditional Rothbarth method. We compare our fi ndings to previous results for Ireland.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Bargain & Monnet Gbakou & Olivier Donni, 2010. "The measurement of child costs : evidence from Ireland," Working Papers 201002, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201002
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10197/2631
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    Cited by:

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    2. Bargain, Olivier & Donni, Olivier, 2012. "Expenditure on children: A Rothbarth-type method consistent with scale economies and parents' bargaining," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 792-813.
    3. Menon, Martina & Pendakur, Krishna & Perali, Federico, 2012. "On the expenditure-dependence of children’s resource shares," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 739-742.
    4. Donni, Olivier & Molina, José Alberto, 2018. "Household Collective Models: Three Decades of Theoretical Contributions and Empirical Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 11915, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Anderson VIL, 2023. "Children Costs in a One-Headed Household: Empirical Evidence from the UK," THEMA Working Papers 2022-21, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    6. Bargain, Olivier & Donni, Olivier, 2009. "The Measurement of Child Costs: A Rothbarth-Type Method Consistent with Scale Economies," IZA Discussion Papers 4654, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. BARGAIN Olivier & DONNI Olivier, 2010. "The Measurement of Child Costs: A Rothbarth-Type Method Consistent with Scale Economies and Parents’ Bargaining," LISER Working Paper Series 2010-30, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    8. Ivica Urban & Martina Pezer, 2020. "Compensation for Households with Children in Croatia, Slovenia and Austria," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 203-235, January.
    9. Olivier Bargain & Prudence Kwenda & Miracle Ntuli, 2017. "Gender bias and the intrahousehold distribution of resources: Evidence from African nuclear households in South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-71, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Bargain, Olivier & Donni, Olivier & Kwenda, Prudence, 2014. "Intrahousehold distribution and poverty: Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 262-276.
    11. Hori, Masahiro, 2011. "The expenditure on children in Japan," CIS Discussion paper series 527, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    12. Emmanuel Ekow Asmah & Francis Kwaw Andoh & Naa Adjeley Suta Alakija Sekyi & Peter Yeltulme Mwinlaaru & Chei Bukari, 2023. "Examining Parental Expenditure on Children in Ghana," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 777-789, December.
    13. Karina Doorley & Luke Duggan & Theano Kakoulidou & Barra Roantree, 2024. "Equivalisation (once again)," Trinity Economics Papers tep0124, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    14. Jason Loughrey & Cathal O’Donoghue, 2012. "The Welfare Impact of Price Changes on Household Welfare and Inequality 1999-2011," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 43(1), pages 31-66.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer demand; Collective model; Sharing rule; Cost of children; Equivalence scales; Indifference scales; Home economics--Accounting; Child rearing--Economic aspects--Ireland; Consumption (Economics);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • C30 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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