Altruistic or Exchange Motive? Evidence on the Effect of Children’s Health Shocks on Intra-household Resource Allocation in China*
* 주관: 서울대학교 경제학부, 경제연구소 한국경제혁신센터, SSK, BK21
* 본 세미나는 BK21+(2023-1학기) 세미나 참석으로 인정됩니다.
- 세미나 참석인정을 원하는 학생은 세미나 종료 후 참석자 명단을 작성해주시기 바랍니다.
Abstract
Most economic models assume either an altruistic or exchange motive, or test one against the other. We show that this approach is not always correct by studying how rich and poor parents choose to make educational investment and monetary transfer among children with different health shocks. Using Chinese data on twins, we find that high-socioeconomic status (SES) parents provide more wedding gifts to the unhealthy twin, but provide more educational investments to the healthy twin; in contrast, low-SES parents provide more wedding gifts to the healthy twin and invest equally in the education of both children. We demonstrate that
neither the altruistic motive model nor the exchange motive model alone can explain these patterns. We also estimate a model with altruistic and exchange motives and find that altruism is the driving motive for high-SES parents, while altruistic and exchange motives coexist for low-SES parents.