ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates to what extent the explanation of variation in hours worked can be improved by taking account of preferences, as compared with a simple model including only measures of the slope and position of the budget constraint as arguments of the labour supply function. It presents basic model into which preferences have been incorporated. The chapter describes selection of the sample of married women. It provides the results of estimating the basic equation and of incorporating preferences in various ways. The chapter presents an analysis of subdivisions of the sample of single people designed to investigate whether differences of sex and status within the household, as judged by age and earnings as a fraction of household income, have a significant effect on supply responses. The economic status of a single person in a household may of course vary greatly from one who is head of the household and earns most of the household’s income.
