Socio-economic effects of relative income and relative cohort size
Schapiro, M.O.
Social Science Research 17(4): 362-383
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0049-089X Document Number: 358068
A nonlinear three-stage least-squares technique is used to estimate a four-equation model in which age-specific fertility, marriage, divorce, and female labor force participation rates are the dependent variables. In addition to a range of explanatory variables, two proxies for the Easterlin hypothesis are tested within the model, one measuring relative income and the other measuring relative cohort size. Findings indicate that the Easterlin proxies, while not statistically significant in all cases, help to explain time-series movements in various socio-economic variables in the postwar United States.