Hotchkiss, Julie L. 2005. "Do Husbands and Wives Pool Their Resources? Further Evidence." Journal of Human Resources 40(2): 519-531.

This paper replicates results of an article showing that families with children increased expenditures on women’s clothing (relative to men’s) after implementation of a policy that shifted a child subsidy “payment” from the father to the mother. These results were interpreted as evidence that families do not pool their income but allocate consumption based on income source. However, the current paper also finds an increase in relative spending on women’s clothing among childless couples, a sample the policy change did not impact. Alternative explanations are explored for observing these patterns, but none can rule out either bargaining or income pooling.

Julie Hotchkiss is an associate professor of economics at Georgia State University and a research economist and associate policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Shelly Lundberg generously made available the data used for their analysis and helped with understanding the details of their analysis. This paper has benefited from the comments of Burton T. Hotchkiss, Robert E. Moore, Paula Stephan, and Robert Pollak; from discussions with M. Melinda Pitts and Jennifer Ward-Batts; and from the research assistance of Yu Xin, King Owalla, and John Stavick. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta or the Federal Reserve System. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning October 2005 through September 2008 from Julie Hotchkiss, Department of Economics, Georgia State University, University Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30303.