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Review of Economic Studies Vol. 72 No. 1 2005

Engines of Liberation

Jeremy Greenwood1,2; Ananth Seshadri1,2; Mehmet Yorukoglu

1 University of Wisconsin–Madison · 2 University of Rochester

Abstract

Electricity was born at the dawn of the last century. Households were inundated with a ood of new consumer durables. What was the impact of this consumer durable goods revolution? It is argued here that the consumer goods revolution was conducive to liberating women from the home. To analyze this hypothesis, a Beckerian model of household production is developed. Households must decide whether or not to adopt the new technologies, and whether a married woman should work. Can such a model help to explain the rise in married female labor-force participation that occurred in the last century? Yes.

DOI
10.1111/0034-6527.00326
Volume
72
Issue
1
Pages
109-133
Language
en
Sources
crossref bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex

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