In this paper, we examine the old-age security hypothesis according to which parents rear children because they expect …, children are usually viewed as a potential source of income and as a time-related support in old age. However, investing in … children remains risky. By focusing on uncertainty about the parental consumption during old age, we show that there exists a …

pensions. Given the children externality and in the absence of corrective policy, the fertility rate chosen in market economy … children externality which leads to a sub optimal demography. We have shown that an optimal demographic allocation exists and …

pensions. Given the children externality and in the absence of corrective policy, the fertility rate chosen in market economy … children externality which leads to a sub optimal demography. We have shown that an optimal demographic allocation exists and …

children. Drawing on the theory of mechanism design, we consider a model of family contract with two levels of effort. We prove … that equal transfers among children are expected under perfect information, while the second-best contract implies risk …