An Economic Analysis of the Family - Paperback

by John Ermisch (Author)

What do economists have to say about behavior within the context of the family? This book improves our understanding of how families and markets interact, why important aspects of families have been changing in recent decades, and how families respond to, and are affected by, public policy. It covers a broader range of topics with more consistency than have previous studies, including all major theoretical developments in the field over the past decade. John Ermisch builds his analysis on the premise that the standard analytical methods of microeconomics can help us understand resource allocation and the distribution of welfare within the family.

Families are dynamic institutions--and so the author uses these same methods to study family formation and dissolution (including marriage, fertility, and divorce) and household formation, as well as intergenerational transfers, household production and investment, and bargaining between family members. He also shows how economic theories of the family can help guide and structure empirical analyses of demographic and related phenomena, such as labor supply, child support, and returns to education. Examples of studies that apply the theory are provided throughout the book.

The most comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to an increasingly dynamic area of research, one with important implications for public policy, An Economic Analysis of the Family will be a valuable resource for advanced students of microeconomics and also for students and researchers in sociology, psychology, and other social sciences.

Back Jacket

"Ermisch provides a well-written introduction to how economists analyze families that will be useful to students, economists and other social scientists, and policymakers. He devotes more attention than do previous books to interesting analysis of issues related to household formation and social context, and he more rigorously integrates recent developments, both theoretical and empirical, in this area of expanding scholarship."--Jere R. Behrman, University of Pennsylvania

"This is a good book, carefully written and a pleasure to read. It covers all aspects of family economics, with a particular emphasis on demographic issues, and conveys the main ideas of the existing literature in a clear, articulate, interesting manner. It should meet the needs of many students."--Pierre André Chiappori, University of Chicago

"Well written and well organized, this book is particularly strong on issues relating to the intra-household allocation of resources--an area that has seen important research in recent years--and relations among members of non-intact families. It will be widely adopted as a very useful teaching text."--Alessandro Cigno, University of Florence

Author Biography

John F. Ermisch is Professor of Economics at the Institute for Social and Economic Research of the University of Essex and a Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of Lone Parenthood: An Economic Analysis and The Political Economy of Demographic Change.