Volume 37, Number 2 (Spring) 2002
Sasaki, Masaru. 2002. "Married Women's Behavior: Market Work and the Family Structure in Japan." Journal of Human Resources 37(2): 429-440.
This paper finds that after controlling for the endogeneity of family structure, co residence with one's own parents or in-laws has a significant positive effect on Japanese married women's labor force participation. This suggests that coresidence allows married women to share the burden of household work with their parents or in-laws, thus leading to the increased probability of labor force participation. It is also found that married women are more likely to reside with parents-in-law if their husband is the eldest son. This suggests the persistence of the traditional Japanese value that the eldest son is more responsible for family matters.
Masaru Sasaki is a lecturer in economics at Kansai University, Osaka, Japan. He would like to thank James Albrecht, Mitsuhiro Kaneda, Keiichiro Matsushita, Koji Miyamoto, Susan Vroman, and Steve Wilber. The data used in the article can be obtained from the Institute for Household Economy, 1-3-13 Hiraga Chiyoda Tokyo Japan 102-0093, Tel: +81-3-322/-7291. The author can be reached at Kansai University, Faculty of Economics, 3-3-35 Yamate Suita Osaka Japan 564-8680. Tel: +81-6-6368-0620. Fax: +81-6-6339-7704. E-mail: sasaki@ipcku.kansai-u.ac.jp .
© 2003 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X