1. Objectifs

Intentions :
« The aim here is a modest one: I set up a fertility-decision model to describe the probability of observing the presence of a child, given the socioeconomic status of a couple. » (p. 2122)

Questions/Hypothèses :
« In the present paper I argue that life stages are more than taste shifters and that some are endogenous. » (p. 2121)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
« I use Canada’s 1996 public use microdata file (PUMF) of families. [...] [The] sample [contains] a total of 29 604 (unweighted) observations, of which 17171 are observations in Ontario and 12 433 in Quebec. » (p. 2130)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

« Conventional housing studies often model a household’s housing demand and tenure choice as a joint decision; life stages are ’taste’ variables that shift the housing demand function. In this study, as in conventional ones, I treat housing demand and tenure choice as a joint decision. Unlike in conventional studies, however, I argue that some life stages are endogenous and that an individual chooses to opt in or out of some of these stages – to stay single or form a couple, or to raise children. These decisions are correlated with tenure choice and housing demand. I use the census microdata file and set up a system of nine equations: six regimes of housing demand, an equation to explain tenure choice, and two equations to describe life-stage decisions. The result shows that housing consumption is less sensitive to permanent income once the endogeneity of life stages has been accounted for – that is, part of the income effect on housing consumption is due to life-stage decisions. » (p. 2121)