Economic Models of Women’s Employment and Fertility

Abstract

Economists take preferences as given, and are concerned with how changes in the constraints that people face, or limits to their choice, alter their behaviour. Indeed, by observing how behaviour changes with elements of these constraints (e. g. prices), they attempt to make inferences about preferences. This viewpoint is maintained in the discussion that follows. In empirical applications, variation in preferences only appears as unobserved random variables. The discussion of models is limited to those which consider both fertility and employment decisions.