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Author: Axelrod, David Allen
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Axelrod, David Allen
Three Essays on Latency in Economics and Decision-Making
Ph.D. Dissertation, Rutgers University, 1990
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Labor Force Participation; Modeling, Hazard/Event History/Survival/Duration; Racial Differences; Time Preference

The first essay invokes latency in decision-making to rationalize positive time preference. A person is seen as economically self-determined when they specify their own preferences/utility function, a latent decision. This is analogous to choosing one's own problem, or project, to work on. Time preference expresses the mixing of temporally distinct projects. The determination of discounting of future time periods is seen as portfolio selection. The variables which affect these weights are the expected utility within the moment, and that utility's variance. This is interpreted to mean that a person preferring certainty, and perceiving increasing uncertainty into the future, will tend to focus her attention toward the present. It is suggested that time preference can be influenced by information about the future. The second essay reviews and extends Richard Stone's article, 'On the Interdependence of Blocks of Transactions.' A factor analysis is run using U.S. macroeconomic data for the period 1969-1984, and contrasted with Stone's analysis for 1922-1938. Stone's 'inner variables' are shown not to work well with the more recent data. A new interpretation is then provided within an extra-market influence framework. It is concluded that monetary influence is the largest factor in the explanation of the data, followed by foreign and fiscal policy influences. Simple regression results are provided for comparison. The third essay develops a competing risks hazard rate model of return to the labor force by young first-time mothers, for NLS 1968-1973 data. The competing risks are: return to the last employer before birth, and returning to a different employer. Significant structural differences are found for white and non-white women samples. The predominant variable associated with duration out of labor force is the woman's time out of labor force before birth. A hypothesis is conjectured that a woman's preferences become more weighted toward expenditures (and away from time with the child) as the child grows older, thus, inducing return to the labor force even if her wage rate and fixed income remains the same.
Bibliography Citation
Axelrod, David Allen. Three Essays on Latency in Economics and Decision-Making. Ph.D. Dissertation, Rutgers University, 1990.