Showing papers by "Gary S. Becker published in 1981"
Book•
01 Jan 1981
TL;DR: The Enlarged Edition as mentioned in this paper provides an overview of the evolution of the family and the state Bibliography Index. But it does not discuss the relationship between fertility and the division of labor in families.
Abstract: Preface to the Enlarged Edition Introduction 1. Single-Person Households 2. Division of Labor in Households and Families Supplement: Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor 3. Polygamy and Monogamy in Marriage Markets 4. Assortative Mating in Marriage Markets 5. The Demand for Children Supplement: A Reformulation of the Economic Theory of Fertility 6. Family Background and the Opportunities of Children 7. Inequality and Intergenerational Mobility Supplement: Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families 8. Altruism in the Family 9. Families in Nonhuman Species 10. Imperfect Information, Marriage, and Divorce 11. The Evolution of the Family Supplement: The Family and the State Bibliography Index
9,096 citations
TL;DR: In a famous passage, Adam Smith argued that people are selfish in their market transactions: "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest" as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Adam Smith argued in a famous passage that people are selfish in their market transactions: "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages" (1937, p. 14). In an earlier study, he said with irony, "We are not ready to suspect any person of being defective in selfishness" (1853, p. 446). Selfishness in market transactions has been assumed in practically all subsequent discussions of the economic system. Objections were dismissed with vague allusions to "human nature" or with an assertion that altruism loses out to selfishness in the struggle to survive in the market sector. Yet altruism is generally recognized to be important within a family. Again, Adam Smith said:
513 citations