This paper describes the plant closing regulations adopted in Maine during the 1971-81 period and documents a pattern of relatively poor compliance with the advance notice and severance pay requirements of the law. Data on the number of workers laid off in major plant closings, on...

We argue that previous research on time devoted to child care has devoted insufficient attention to the definition and conceptualization of care time. Three separate problems are evident. First, the conventional focus on explicit activities with children distracts attention from the larger...

The traditional neoclassical economic view that preferences are “inscrutable” and can only be revealed through behavior would, if true, make it difficult for altruists to make efficient decisions. We question whether altruism should be defined as a preference that can be revealed, or indeed,...

This volume focuses on gendered differences in the economic resources of the elderly and the individuals charged with meeting the day-to-day care needs of the elderly. Often the burden of care falls on women, who themselves have less access to care as they age. The introduction gives an overview...

This paper explores the role of nonmarket household services in the growth and development of the U.S. economy, in the period between 1870 and 1930. In the first section, we review previous efforts to estimate the value and composition of household output, and sketch a descriptive account of the...

The contributions in this Explorations section reveal differences across countries in the support systems of the elderly and shows that poverty among the elderly has not been eliminated, even in rich countries. Social insurance systems with an adequate minimum benefit do the best job of avoiding...

Although existing organizational and cultural practices have the benefit of creating incentives to increase output, they may also create perverse incentives that have negative economic effects outside the relatively easily measured world of market outcomes.