Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16516
Authors: Thomas Baudin; Bram De Rock; Paula Gobbi
Abstract: Household decisions are one of the key elements impacting many dimensions of any economy. In this paper, we review the economic literature on family types, focusing on nuclear, stem, and complex families. We show that family types are heterogeneous across and within countries, both in the past and in present times. We argue that economists have focused too much their analysis on nuclear families, which may limit our capacity to analyze the impact of institutional phenomena or public policies. We establish how each family type could relate to the basic ingredients of standard structural models of household decisions. We believe this overview sets the stage for an interesting research avenue to improve the structural models of household decision making.
Keywords: family structures; economic development; household decisions
JEL Codes: D10; J12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| nuclear family prevalence (J12) | GDP per capita (O49) |
| stem families (O50) | Gini coefficients (D31) |
| complex family structures (J12) | rule of law (K15) |