This paper explores the evolution of child labour, fertility and human capital in the process of development. In early stages of development, the economy is in a development trap where child labour is abundant, fertility is high and output per capita is low. Technological progress, however,...

The pattern of joining the labor force only at an advanced stage of the life-cycle was widespread among American women in the 1960s and 1970s, but not since the 1980s. To explain this change we conduct a theoretical analysis of the interrelation between women's lifetime labor supply choices and...

Conventional wisdom suggests that in developed countries income and fertility are negatively correlated. We present new evidence that between 2001 and 2009 the cross-sectional relationship between fertility and women's education in the U.S. is U-shaped. At the same time, average hours worked...

rates that are consistent with U.S data.

We present a model in which the social norms regarding women’s labor force participation (LFP) differ from the norms concerning men’s. Assuming that these norms depend on past rates of women LFP creates a gradual increase in women LFP.

This paper provides a new explanation for the narrowing and reversal of the gender education gap. It highlights the indirect effect of returns to human capital on parents' preferences for sons and the resulting demand for children and education. We assume that parents maximize the full income of...