Efficiency versus Stereotypes: an Experiment in Domestic Production

Hélène Couprie (), Elisabeth Cudeville () and Catherine Sofer ()
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Elisabeth Cudeville: CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement

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Abstract: Most household models assume that decisions taken inside the family are Pareto optimal. However, empirical studies cast doubts upon the efficiency assumption. The sharing of time among men and women between market work and household work is highly differentiated by gender. In this paper we examine whether couples deviate from efficiency in household production decisions, using an experimental design in which subjects are real couples. The aim of the experiment is to mimic the sharing of highly-gendered household tasks. We compare the sharing of gendered tasks to that of more neutral tasks. By measuring individual productivity in each task, we can see if couples tend to deviate from efficiency, and by how much in each case. As we show that they deviate more when sharing gendered tasks, we also explore why, looking at different possible explanations, and we find evidence of the impact of stereotypes on inefficiencies.

Keywords: social norms; household production; time allocation; experiment; production function; household behavior; intra-household decision-making; stéréotypes; normes sociales; production domestique; allocation du temps; expérience; fonction de production; comportement des ménages; prise de décision dans les ménages (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01162474v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in 2015

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Related works:
Working Paper: EFFICIENCY VERSUS STEREOTYPES: AN EXPERIMENT IN DOMESTIC PRODUCTION (2015)
Working Paper: Efficiency versus Stereotypes: an Experiment in Domestic Production (2015)
Working Paper: Efficiency versus Stereotypes: an Experiment in Domestic Production (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01162474

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