Household Behavior as the Optimal Allocation of Internal and External Resources

1999 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 10480018
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: 家政学一般(含衣・住環境)
• Research Institution: Japan Women's University
• Principal Investigator: TOKOYAMA Hiromi Japan Women's University, Home Economics, Professor, 家政学部, 教授 (20163983)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): HIMIZU Toshio Japan Women's University, Home Economics, Professor, 家政学部, 教授 (90199018) ; IMAMURA Naraomi Japan Women's University, Home Economics, Professor, 家政学部, 教授 (60020525) ; TAKAGI Ikrou Japan Women's University, Home Economics, Professor, 家政学部, 教授 (50107174) ; AKATSUKA Tomoko Utsunomiya University, Education, Assistant professor, 教育学部, 助教授 (40174247) ; HORIKOSHI Eiko Japan Women's University, Home Economics, Assistant Professor, 家政学部, 助教授 (70060720)
• Project Period (FY): 1998 – 1999
• Keywords: home economics / family resources internal resources / internal resources / external resources / interface / human capital / social institutions / unpaid work

Research Abstract

The aim of this project is to analyze household behavior focussing on the interface between two types of resources, that is, the internal or domestic resources and the external resources. Here the internal resources include labor force of family members, financial stocks and real estates possessed by households. While the esternal resources cosist of various types of incomes such as wages, salaries and receipts from social welfare systems. Environmental and natural resources like fresh air and running water of rivers are also included in the external resource.
Households are assumed to maximize their utility on the given state of the internal and external resources. The processes of this maximization with respect to two types of resources are analyzed in such aspects of life as child care, education, care for aged members of the family, paid work in labor market and etc.
The major fact-findings are as follows.
Internal resources can be changed widely in quality and quantity by investment in human and non-human capitals. For example, labor force changes by academic carrier, health conditions and so on.
Labor allocation between paid and unpaid work depends not only on economic factors such as market wage rate and level of family incomes, but also many social and cultural factors. Among them, the evaluation of domestic work by family members, traditional thought on the roll of housewife, social institutions, especially tax and welfare systems are important.