Education, life expectancy and family bargaining: the Ben-Porath effect revisited

Laura Leker and Gregory Ponthiere
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Laura Leker: PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - 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: Following Ben-Porath [1967. "The Production of Human Capital and the Life-Cycle of Earnings." Journal of Political Economy 75 (3): 352–365], the influence of life expectancy on education and on human capital has attracted much attention among growth theorists. Whereas existing growth models rely on an education decision made either by the child or by his parent, we revisit the Ben-Porath effect by modelling education as the outcome of bargaining between the parent and the child. We develop a three-period overlapping generations (OLG) model, where human capital increases life expectancy and shows that as a result of the unequal remaining lifetimes faced by parents and children, the form of the Ben-Porath effect depends on how bargaining power is distributed within the family, which in turn affects long-run economic dynamics. Using data on 16 OECD countries (1940–1980), we show that introducing family bargaining helps to rationalize the observed education patterns across countries.

Keywords: OLG model; education; life expectancy; family bargaining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-05
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published in Education Economics, 2015, 23 (4), pp.481-513. ⟨10.1080/09645292.2013.869557⟩

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Related works:
Journal Article: Education, life expectancy and family bargaining: the Ben-Porath effect revisited (2015)
Working Paper: Education, life expectancy and family bargaining: the Ben-Porath effect revisited (2015)
Working Paper: Education, Life Expectancy and Family Bargaining: The Ben-Porath Effect Revisited (2012)
Working Paper: Education, Life Expectancy and Family Bargaining: The Ben-Porath Effect Revisited (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01155338

DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2013.869557

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