Labor Supply Response Over Time

Philip Robins and Richard W. West

Journal of Human Resources, 1980, vol. 15, issue 4, 524-544

Abstract: This study uses longitudinal data from the Seattle and Denver Income Maintenance Experiments to estimate a partial-adjustment model of labor-supply response. It is assumed that as a result of the experimental treatments, a person changes desired hours of work. The new desired hours of work are estimated empirically along with the speed at which the adjustment takes place. The results indicate that the financial treatments reduce desired hours of work by 9 percent for husbands, by 20 percent for wives, and by 25 percent for single female heads of families. The estimated time periods required for 90 percent adjustment are 2.4 years for husbands, 3.6 years for wives, and 4.5 years for single female heads. Tests are performed for differences in response by ethnicity, site, and experimental duration. The results indicate larger reductions in desired hours of work for blacks and Chicanos (relative to whites), for persons in Denver (relative to persons in Seattle), and for persons on the five-year programs (relative to persons on the three-year programs). Only in the case of husbands, however, are the ethnic, site, and duration differences statistically significant.

Date: 1980
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/145400
A subscription is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:15:y:1980:i:4:p:524-544

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Human Resources from University of Wisconsin Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().