The economics of household decision-making about marriage, divorce, fertility and labour market participation, the limitations of GDP as a measure of wellbeing, and measures of human, social and natural capital.
NZ has experienced a rapid change in family structures over the last decade towards
greater diversity in families, including single parenthood, parents who do not live
with their children but are still involved, etc. Economic reasoning can help explain
the dramatic changes that have occurred, both in New Zealand and around the world
by analysing household decisions related to marriage and cohabitation, divorce, labour
market participation of women, and childbearing.
These decisions have an
important impact on income and the overall wellbeing of the society, which will be
the subject of the latter part of the course. New Zealand’s Wellbeing Budget in 2019
has been internationally recognised as part of the growing global awareness of the
different dimensions of wellbeing and the need to develop meaningful measures other
than Gross Domestic Product. The Wellbeing Budget draws on the Government’s Living
Standards Framework, which focuses on people’s capabilities to live the life they
value and have reasons to value, based on Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’. Overall,
the Economics of Households and Wellbeing will provide graduates with the skills to
comprehend and critically assess how households make economic choices and the changes
in societal structures and wellbeing, which allows for informed discourse and policy
making.
| Paper title | Special Topic: Economics of Households and Wellbeing |
|---|---|
| Paper code | ECON351 |
| Subject | Economics |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Second Semester |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $863.25 |
| International Tuition Fees (NZD) | $4,276.80 |
- Prerequisite
- ECON 201 or ECON 271
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Commerce, Science
- Contact
- Teaching staff
- Textbooks
Required: Saul D. Hoffman and Susan Averett (2015) Women and the Economy: Family, Work and Pay, 3rd edition, Macmillan International Higher Education (ISBN 9781137477033).
Other key readings include: NZ Treasury reports (accessible online) and chapters from a selection of other books (available via e-Reserve).- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Communication, Critical thinking, Research, Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.- Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete the paper will have developed a range of subject-specific knowledge and skills. They will be able to:
- Discuss the economic theory of marriage, the reasons and consequences of divorce, the relationship between marriage and the relative earnings of men and women.
- Discuss the economic explanations for the recent trends in fertility.
- Describe and explain the recent trend in women’s labour market participation.
- Explain the gender gap in earnings in a variety of settings.
- Discuss the strength and weaknesses of GDP as a measure of wellbeing.
- Discuss Sen's capabilities approach.
- Describe and analyse the Solow growth model.
- Describe the components of human, social and natural capital.
