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A note on altruism and caregiving in the family: do prices matter?

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Abstract

Exchanges of work for money and altruism are two alternative explanations for bequests, transfers from children to older parents, and in-family caregiving. Such exchanges may also occur in couples living together and are therefore a major theme in economic analyses of marriage. This note emphasizes two ways that the literature on altruism and inter-generational monetary transfers and the economic literature on marriage can enrich each other: the concept of price for in-family caregiving can be expanded along the lines of the analysis of Work-In-Household and market analyses of marriage can pay more attention to altruism as an alternative explanation for observed behaviors such as labor supply or consumption.

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Correspondence to Shoshana Grossbard.

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Grossbard, S. A note on altruism and caregiving in the family: do prices matter?. Rev Econ Household 12, 487–491 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-014-9260-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-014-9260-y

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