We provide evidence on household and market production in 36 countries since 1960. On average the household sector accounts for almost half of total hours worked. As GDP per capita increases, the employment share of household production in total hours worked initially declines and then hardly...

We use a lab-in-the-field experiment to investigate intra-couple labor supply decisions and the division of housework under individual and joint income taxation systems. In order to eliminate problems of endogenous intra-couple time use decisions, we exogenously varied not only the taxation...

Gary Becker's classic study, A Theory of the Allocation of Time, laid the analytical foundations for the study of household production and the allocation of time within the household. The analytical framework of household production theory developed in this paper remained a pillar of his later...

Optimal taxes for Europe and the U.S. are derived in a realistically calibrated model in which agents buy consumption goods and services and use home capital and labor to produce household services. The optimal tax rate on services is substantially lower than the tax rate on goods. Specifically,...

This paper examines the role of home production in estimating life-cycle labor supply. I show that, consistent with previous studies, ignoring an individual's time spent on home production when estimating the Frisch elasticity of labor supply biases its estimate downwards. I also show, however,...