Detecting Mother-Father Differences in Spending on Children: A New Approach Using Willingness-to-Pay Elicitation
中文摘要
本文通过比较母亲和父亲为子女特定商品的支付意愿（WTP），检验母亲与父亲在女儿相对于儿子的支出上是否存在差异。我们在乌干达应用了这一方法，它比考察母亲与父亲收入的支出效应的标准方法更为精确。我们发现，父亲对女儿人力资本的支付意愿低于对儿子的支付意愿，而母亲则不然。利他主义在其中发挥作用：对于仅仅给女儿带来快乐的商品，父亲的支付意愿低于其为儿子此类商品的支付意愿，而母亲则不存在这一差异。（JEL D64, G51, J12, J13, J16, O12）
Abstract
This paper tests whether mothers and fathers differ in their spending on daughters relative to sons by comparing their willingness to pay (WTP) for specific goods for their children. This method, which we apply in Uganda, offers more precision than the standard method of examining expenditure effects of mothers’ versus fathers’ income. We find that fathers have a lower WTP for their daughters’ than their sons’ human capital but mothers do not. Altruism plays a role: fathers’ but not mothers’ WTP for goods that simply bring joy to their daughters is lower than their WTP for such goods for sons. (JEL D64, G51, J12, J13, J16, O12)