Economics Research Paper: Population and Development

Population and Development
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Marriage and fertility have always been closely linked. Fertility is one’s natural ability to produce offspring whereas marriage is the legally recognized union between spouses. Both decisions play an active role in a nation’s income distribution. This essay purposes to apply Weiss and Gary Becker economic theories while examining my parents’ marriage and fertility decisions.
Finding a suitable spouse can be really hard. Marriages allocate various resources, obligations and claims to different people in different ways. In the case of the Chinese, daughters did not receive family property but could end up being residual heirs. This means that they could be allowed to receive family property when there were no son heirs. According to Gary Becker’s neo-classical approach and Weiss’ economic theory, marriage should guarantee utility maximization and economic gains. These two principles go ahead to explain why most adults marry and also why spouses are grouped by the measure of wealth and education under different situations. However, marriage patterns vary and societal norms change from time to time. The economic value of marriage can be seen in the following; First and foremost, the gain of marriage (National Bureau of Economic Research). Marriage considers two individuals, M and F who must make a decision of remaining single or staying together. Utility does not directly depend on the goods and services found in the market place but rather the commodities each household produces. In one case, a spouse may be earning more than his counterpart whereas in the other case they might be earning equal pay. In both cases there is an increase in utility. However, all commodities can be combined into a single aggregate Z. Maximizing utility then becomes equal to maximizing Z. The production function of every household relate to the total Z output.
Single people allocate their own time between non-market and market sectors. This is because single persons don’t have spouses they can depend on for time and goods. Additionally, single F is more likely to work harder than married F. This is because the responsibilities that come with being married often lead to most ladies to stop working. Moreover, it is important to note that when F stops working, income is still generated by M (National Bereau of Economic Research). Dependability is one of the cornerstones of marriage. This goes on to show Single men work less than married men. The main explanation behind marriage is the desire to bring up children and the undeniable physical attraction between different sexes. Sexual satisfaction, cleaning and other services can be purchased, but children cannot. Spouses are naturally expected to produce and raise their own kids. Additionally, people who share a physical and emotional attachment can reduce the costs of frequently meeting up and transferring resources by living together. One can secure economies of scale by joining two households as it guarantees sharing things such as cooking and house rent.
The neo-classical approach is also used to evaluate fertility decisions. However, it is based on five assumptions. These are: First and fo...