Skip to main content
Log in

On the goods-activities technical relations in the time allocation theory

  • Published:
Transportation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In areas like household production and travel choice, time assigned to the different activities plays a key role in addition to consumption as the main variables in utility within the consumer behaviour framework. However, a comprehensive conceptual structure to understand the technological relations between goods consumption and the assignment of time to activities is still lacking. In this paper the problem is reviewed and all possible relations between goods and time are re-formulated. Two general functions are defined and proposed to account for all these relations, forming a new taxonomy for the technical constraints. The resulting consumer behaviour model is used to obtain general expressions for both the value of saving time in constrained activities like travel, and the value of leisure.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bates J (1987) Measuring travel time values with a discrete choice model: a note. The Economic Journal 97: 493–498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker G (1965) A theory of the allocation of time. The Economic Journal 75: 493–517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruzelius N (1979) The Value of Travel Time: Theory and Measurement. London: Croom Helm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collings JJ (1974) The valuation of leisure travel time, a note. Regional and Urban Economics 4: 65–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalvi Q (1978) Economics theories of travel choice. In: Hensher D & Dalvi Q (eds) Determinants of Travel Choice, Chapter 2. Farnborough, England: Saxon House.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Donnea F (1972) Consumer behaviour, transport mode choice and value of time: Some Microeconomic Models. Regional And Urban Economics 1: 355–382.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeSerpa A (1971) A theory of the economics of time. The Economic Journal 81: 828–846.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans A (1972) On the theory of the valuation and allocation of time. Scottish Journal of Political Economy 19: 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gronau R (1986) Home production – a survey. In: Ashenfelter O & Layard R (eds) Handbook of Labour Economics, Vol. 1 (pp. 273–304). Amsterdam: North Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jara-Díaz S (1998) Time and income in travel choice: towards a microeconomic activity framework. In: Gärling T, Laitila T & Westin K (eds) Theoretical Foundations of Travel Choice Modelling (pp. 51–73). Pergamon.

  • Jara-Díaz Sergio R (2000) Allocation and valuation of travel time savings. In: Hensher D & Button K (eds) Handbook of Transport Modelling (pp. 303–319). Oxford: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juster F (1990) Rethinking utility theory. The Journal of Behavioural Economics 19(2): 155–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lancaster K (1966) A new approach to consumer theory. Journal of Political Economy 74: 132–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michael R & Becker G (1973) On the new theory of consumer behaviour. Swedish Journal of Economics 75: 378–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oort O (1969) The evaluation of travelling time. Journal of Transport Economics and Policy 3: 279–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollak R & Watcher M (1975) The relevance of the household production function and its implications for the allocation of time. Journal of Political Economy 83(2): 255–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Small K (1982) Scheduling of consumer activities: work Trips. The American Economic Review 72: 467–479.

    Google Scholar 

  • Truong P & Hensher D (1985) Measurement of travel time values and opportunity cost from a discrete – choice model. The Economic Journal 95: 438–451.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winston GC (1987) Activity Choice: a new approach to economic behaviour. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 8: 567–585.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jara-Díaz, S.R. On the goods-activities technical relations in the time allocation theory. Transportation 30, 245–260 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023936911351

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023936911351

Navigation