Child labor and the interaction between the quantity and quality of children

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Southern Economic Journal

Publication Date

7-1-2004

Volume

71

Issue

1

First Page

21

Last Page

35

Abstract

This article analyzes the impacts of child labor on the interaction between the quantity and quality of children in the spirit of Becker and Lewis. It shows that, without child labor, the quantity of children can be a normal good so that it increases with parental income under some fairly standard formulations. However, the correlation between fertility and parental income becomes negative when the role of child labor is considered. The model also implies that fertility increases with the wage rate of child labor. Moreover, it suggests that government intervention not only directly affects the supply of child labor but also influences parents' decisions on fertility, which indirectly determines children's labor market participations.

DOI

10.2307/4135308

Print ISSN

00384038

E-ISSN

23258012

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2004 Southern Economic Association

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Fan, C. S. (2004). Child labor and the interaction between the quantity and quality of children. Southern Economic Journal, 71(1), 21-35. doi: 10.2307/4135308

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