Family law effects on divorce, fertility and child investment
BibTeX
@article{brown2011family,
title={Family law effects on divorce, fertility and child investment},
author={Brown, Meta and Flinn, Christopher J and Mullins, Joseph},
journal={Unpublished Manuscript, NYU},
year={2011}
}
Abstract
In order to assess the child welfare impact of policies governing divorced parenting, such as child support orders, child custody assignments, and marital dissolution standards, one must consider their influence on not only the divorce rate but also spouses’ fertility choices and child investments. We develop a model of fertility, parenting, and divorce, from which we derive estimates of parental preferences and a child cognitive ability production function, using data on parental time allocation, children’s cognitive attainment, and realized fertility and divorce. Family policies that reduce divorce are simulated to have significant negative impacts on both fertility and child development.
Notes and Excerpts
The model is estimated using data from the PSID and the CDS (a subsample of households with young children from the PSID) using the Method of Simulated Moments (MSM). The model we estimate is somewhat parsimonious
One of the useful features of the panel is that they can compare children whose parents are divorced to those whose parents will divorce in the future.