ABSTRACT
Within the traditional neoclassical model of household behavior, the household is assumed to have a unified preference function concerning outcomes for each of the household members. Such a preference function is consistent with a situation where there is a dictator (Becker’s altruistic model) as well as a situation in which every member of the family has the same preferences defined over the consumption of all household members (Samuelson’s consensus model).1 This traditional neoclassical model of the family has however come into question both on empirical and theoretical grounds.2
