Handbook of Population and Family Economics

The collection of chapters in the Handbook of Population and Family Economics and their organization reflect the most recent developments in economics pertaining to population issues and the family. The rationale, contents, and organization of the Handbook evolve from three premises. First, the family is the main arena in which population outcomes are forged. Second, there are important interactions and significant causal links across all demographic phenomena. Third, the study of the size, composition, and growth of a population can benefit from the application of economic methodology and tools. The diversity and depth of the work reviewed and presented in the Handbook conveys both the progress that has been made by economists in understanding the forces shaping population processes, including the behavior of families, and the many questions, empirical and theoretical, that still remain. For more information on the Handbooks in Economics series, please see our home page on http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/hes

Introduction: Population and family economics (M.R. Rosenzweig, O. Stark). The Family. A survey of theories of the family (T.C. Bergstrom). The formation and dissolution of families: Why marry? Who marries whom and what happens upon divorce (Y. Weiss). Intrahousehold distribution and the family (J.R. Behrman). Intergenerational and interhousehold economic links (J. Laitner). Fertility. The cost of children and the use of demographic variables in consumer demand (B.M.S. van Praag, M.F. Warnaar). The economics of fertility in developed countries (V.J. Hotz, J.A. Klerman, R.J. Willis). Demand for children in low income countries (T.P. Schultz). Mortality and Health. New findings on secular trends in nutrition and mortality: Some implications for population theory (R.W. Fogel). Determinants and consequences of the mortality and health of infants and children (K.I. Wolpin). Mortality and morbidity among adults and the elderly (R. Sickles, P. Taubman). Complete Index.