Artikel

Risk preference and child labor: Econometric evidence

Households may invest in the human capital development of their children not only for altruistic reasons but also as insurance against future income shocks. Therefore, the allocation of the child's time between school and work is a function of the risk preference of the household head. This paper analyzes the relationship between parental risk preferences and child labor decisions using recall information on child labor and a risk elicitation question. Results reveal that risk-averse households are more likely to send their children to work. Endogeneity issues are addressed by employing instrumental variables. These results suggest that child labor may be driven by the need to maximize the household's expected income from the child. Regarding heterogeneity, we find that the child labor effect of risk-aversion is higher for older children. Furthermore, the father's risk-aversion matters for the probability of child labor, while the intensity of child labor increases with the mother's risk-aversion. The findings call for an understanding of the behavioral context of the affected households and how risk preferences can affect the success of proposed policies to reduce child labor.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Journal: Review of Development Economics ; ISSN: 1467-9361 ; Volume: 25 ; Year: 2021 ; Issue: 2 ; Pages: 878-894 ; Hoboken, NJ: Wiley

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Thema
altruism
child labor
household welfare
human capital
risk preference
uncertainties

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Frempong, Raymond Boadi
Stadelmann, David
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Wiley
(wo)
Hoboken, NJ
(wann)
2021

DOI
doi:10.1111/rode.12746
Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:45 MEZ

Datenpartner

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ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Artikel

Beteiligte

  • Frempong, Raymond Boadi
  • Stadelmann, David
  • Wiley

Entstanden

  • 2021

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