The Balance Point: The Blacksmiths of the Digital Age or the Economics of Serials

This column discusses the effects of real or perceived funding reductions on serials resources. The focus is on bibliographic instruction and cataloging aspects of “fee” versus “free” resources.     

An economic model of teenage pregnancy decision-making

In this paper, we model unmarried teenagers' decisions about their pregnancy outcome by considering that the teenager contrasts her expected utility (1) as a married mother, (2) as an unmarried mother, or (3) after abortion. We use cross-sectional data on 297 California teenagers aged 13-19 who were pregnant for the first time between 1972 and 1974. Both Anglo and Mexican-American girls are included. We find that pregnant girls who are eligible for or are receiving public assistance are more likely to give birth and remain unmarried. Teenagers with greater time values are more likely to choose abortion, and Mexican-American girls are more likely to carry their pregnancies to term.     

Explaining changes in married mothers’ employment over time

Employment of married mothers with preschool children rose dramatically between 1971 and 1990. Using CPS data, we find that about one-fifth of the increase in labor supply can be attributed to changes in mothers’ demographic characteristics (age, education, and number of children). Changes in the earnings opportunities of new mothers and their husbands explain another one-fifth of the growth in employment. Over the two decades, infants up to three months old became less of a barrier to employment, while women’s labor supply became more sensitive to their own earnings opportunities and less sensitive to those of their husbands.