Altruistic parents choose fertility and consumption by maximizing a dynastic utility f unction. The maximization implies an arbitrage condition for consumpt ion across generations and equality between the benefit from an extra child and the child-rearing cost. These conditions imply that fertil...

The past casts a long shadow on the present through its influence on the formation of present preferences. The past influences present preferences through habitual, addictive, and traditional behavior, and in other ways. These have profound implications for the analysis of economic and social...

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface to the Enlarged Edition -- Introduction -- 1. Single-Person Households -- 2. Division of Labor in Households and Families 30 Supplement: Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor -- 3. Polygamy and Monogamy in Marriage Markets -- 4. Assortative...

Frontmatter -- Preface -- Contents -- PART I. PERSONAL CAPITAL -- 1. Preferences and Values -- 2. De Gustibus Non Est Disputandum -- 3. A Theory of Rational Addiction -- 4. Rational Addiction and the Effect of Price on Consumption -- 5. An Empirical Analysis of Cigarette Addiction -- 6. Habits,...