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Author: Kniesner, Thomas J.
Resulting in 10 citations.
1. Kniesner, Thomas J.
An Indirect Test of Complementarity in a Family Labor Supply Model
Econometrica 44,4 (July 1976): 651-669.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1913434
Cohort(s): Mature Women, Older Men
Publisher: Department of Economics, Northwestern University
Keyword(s): Age and Ageing; Family Resources; Housework/Housewives; Husbands, Income; Schooling; Wives, Income

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The author derives an indirect test of net complementarity in a family labor supply model. The results show that the sign of the husband's gross labor supply wage parameter will differ according to whether the wife works, and that the difference indicates the sign of the compensated cross-price effect. The results also show that for older persons, the nonmarket time of the husband and the nonmarket time of the wife are complementary in consumption. Finally, evidence shows that an aggregation bias may occur in estimating labor supply functions for married men.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J. "An Indirect Test of Complementarity in a Family Labor Supply Model." Econometrica 44,4 (July 1976): 651-669.
2. Kniesner, Thomas J.
Fertility, Marital Instability, and Alimony
Presented: Atlanta, GA, Southern Economic Association Meetings, 1976
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Southern Economic Association
Keyword(s): Alimony; Child Support; Children; Family Resources; Fertility; Marital Instability; Parental Influences

This study analyzes marital instability among women 30-44, within a statistical framework. Three specific issues are focused on: (1) How does the fertility pattern of the wife influence the stability of a marriage? (2) What factors determine actual alimony and child support payments? (3) What effect does potential alimony and support payments have on divorce and separation? In addition, new evidence is presented dealing with parental marital instability and their children's economic success.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J. "Fertility, Marital Instability, and Alimony." Presented: Atlanta, GA, Southern Economic Association Meetings, 1976.
3. Kniesner, Thomas J.
Recent Behavior of the 'Full-Time' Workweek in the U.S.
Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1974
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Behavior; Earnings, Wives; Household Models; Job Search; Labor Supply; Life Cycle Research; Schooling; Transfers, Wealth; Work Hours/Schedule

Regression estimates of the postwar secular labor supply function for full-time workers produce a coefficient for the real wage rate variable that is not statistically different from zero. Past explanations for this phenomenon are shown to be unsupported empirically, including the recently developed life-cycle labor supply model. This dissertation is an attempt to uncover the basic economic structure which is responsible, in part, for the time-series/cross-section conflict. A two-person model of the household is considered. If the nonmarket time of the husband and the nonmarket time of the wife are gross complements, then recent relative increases in the female wage rate have worked against a decline in male hours of work. Considered also is the effect of past investment in schooling. In so much as greater schooling represents a transfer of wealth from nonhuman to human wealth, postwar relative increases in male years of schooling should also have a positive effect on the full-time workweek. The female wage rate has a small positive effect on male hours of work with an elasticity to the range of .02 to .12. Schooling has a much more substantial effect; an additional year of schooling is associated with a workweek longer by approximately one-half to three-fourths of an hour. When the female wage rate and male years of schooling are included as explanatory variables in an analysis of labor supply, the predicted postwar secular movement in full-time hours of work is positive and approximately 75 per cent of the actual increase. When these two factors are held constant, the effect of secular changes in the male wage rate on full-time hours of work is statistically less than zero and approximately equal in both the prewar and postwar periods.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J. Recent Behavior of the 'Full-Time' Workweek in the U.S. Ph.D. Dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1974.
4. Kniesner, Thomas J.
The Feminization of Poverty
Social Science 7,1 (Spring 1986): 6-10
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: Pi Gamma Mu - the National Social Science Honor Society
Keyword(s): Children; Divorce; Poverty; Racial Differences; Women

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

(Author's Note: With assistance from Charles Hunter)

During the 1970s, females in the United States made up an increasing share of the poor population. Analysis of data collected between 1967 and 1982 by the NLS of Young Women shows that most females enter poverty after divorce or after bearing an illegitimate child. However, there are also important racial differences in both entry into and exit from poverty.

Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J. "The Feminization of Poverty." Social Science 7,1 (Spring 1986): 6-10.
5. Kniesner, Thomas J.
McElroy, Marjorie B.
Wilcox, Steven P.
Family Structure, Race, and the Hazards of Young Women in Poverty, or Getting Into Poverty Without a Husband and getting Out, With or Without
Discussion Paper No. 193, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Australian National University - Canberra, 1988
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: Australian National University - Canberra
Keyword(s): Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Children; Family Structure; Marital Status; Mothers; Parents, Single; Poverty; Racial Differences; Welfare

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

From 1970 to the early 1980s the population of adults of both sexes living in poverty in the United States increased by about 30 percent. The greater absolute increase in the number of women living in poverty during the period has been termed the feminization of poverty. This paper presents a micro theoretical and empirical analysis of changes in family structure over the last 15 years and their resulting effect, by race, on the poverty status of young women. The analysis uses the NLS of Young Women. The so-called feminization of poverty occurred almost solely because of the startling secular growth in the number of single mothers. Thus, the authors focus their efforts on quantifying the factors behind the movement of women into and out of single motherhood during the early stages of their adult lives. The statistical approach includes estimating multivariate proportional hazard functions for poverty entry and exit. The list of explanatory variables is poor and contains only variables that are truly pre-determined. It was found that even after controlling for family background, age, and measure of human capital accumulation, as well as for interstate variation in AFDC generosity, in per capita income, and in gender mix, young black women still enter poverty through the single motherhood at almost three times the rate of their white counterparts. Young black women have longer average spells of poverty because they not only enter poverty at higher rates but they exit the poverty associated with single motherhood more slowly. Even controlling for the variables of explanatory factors, the poverty exit rate for young black women is still only about two-thirds that of the young white women in these data. The authors conclude that, while AFDC generosity affects poverty rates, such programs have also trended in a direction that should have slowed the feminization of poverty and that aging tends to retard poverty entry more than it retards poverty exit. Because the US population of women is now aging, the authors expect the total number of poor single mothers with children to decline between now and the end of this century.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J., Marjorie B. McElroy and Steven P. Wilcox. "Family Structure, Race, and the Hazards of Young Women in Poverty, or Getting Into Poverty Without a Husband and getting Out, With or Without." Discussion Paper No. 193, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Australian National University - Canberra, 1988.
6. Kniesner, Thomas J.
McElroy, Marjorie B.
Wilcox, Steven P.
Getting into Poverty Without a Husband, and Getting Out, With or Without
American Economic Review 78,2 (May 1988): 86-95.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1818103
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): Family Structure; Mothers; Parents, Single; Poverty; Racial Differences

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Utilizing data from the NLS of Young Women, this research analyzed the poverty spells of young single mothers during the survey years 1968-1982. Findings include: (1) young black women are more likely than young white women to not only experience poverty but to stay in poverty; (2) changes in family structure account for nearly all entries into poverty with divorce the prevalent entry mode for white women and leaving the household of another adult the predominant mode for black women; (3) more young white women exit poverty via remarriage while black women typically rejoin either their parent's household or the household of another unrelated male adult; and (4) for both races, poverty status represented new poverty rather than poverty carried over from some previous family structure.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J., Marjorie B. McElroy and Steven P. Wilcox. "Getting into Poverty Without a Husband, and Getting Out, With or Without." American Economic Review 78,2 (May 1988): 86-95.
7. Kniesner, Thomas J.
Padilla, Arthur H.
Polachek, Solomon W.
Racial Differences in Earnings Over the Business Cycle
Presented: Chicago, IL, Econometric Society Meetings, 1978
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: Econometric Society
Keyword(s): Discrimination, Racial/Ethnic; Earnings; Schooling; Unemployment

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This article focuses on the use of the error components model to measure the effect of labor market conditions on rate-of-return differentials between races. The statistical procedure used in this study measures business activity by the unemployment rate. In an earnings equation, the interaction between schooling and unemployment rate variables show that schooling rates of return declined as business conditions worsened for blacks.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J., Arthur H. Padilla and Solomon W. Polachek. "Racial Differences in Earnings Over the Business Cycle." Presented: Chicago, IL, Econometric Society Meetings, 1978.
8. Kniesner, Thomas J.
Padilla, Arthur H.
Polachek, Solomon W.
The Rate of Return to Schooling and the Business Cycle
Journal of Human Resources 13,2 (Spring 1978): 264-277.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/145361
Cohort(s): Older Men, Young Men
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Business Cycles; Educational Returns; Employment; School Quality; Schooling; Wages

This study illustrates two avenues through which the business cycle affects the rate of return to schooling. The results show that the degree to which the increased relative black rate of return is attributable to comparative gains in school quality may be overstated. Evidence shows that the relative rate of return for young whites is directly related to the incidence of unemployment.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J., Arthur H. Padilla and Solomon W. Polachek. "The Rate of Return to Schooling and the Business Cycle." Journal of Human Resources 13,2 (Spring 1978): 264-277.
9. Kniesner, Thomas J.
Polachek, Solomon W.
Padilla, Arthur H.
The Rate of Return to Schooling and the Business Cycle: Additional Estimates
Journal of Human Resources 15,2 (Spring 1980): 273-277.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/145336
Cohort(s): Older Men, Young Men
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Keyword(s): Earnings; Educational Returns; Schooling; Unemployment

The central purpose of this paper is to illustrate that the business cycle disturbs relative black/white rates of return. This is demonstrated in two ways. First, the authors make note that King's rate of return estimates support the hypothesis that blacks fare relatively poorly in times of high unemployment. Secondly, evidence is presented which corroborates original findings from an earnings function estimated with panel data.
Bibliography Citation
Kniesner, Thomas J., Solomon W. Polachek and Arthur H. Padilla. "The Rate of Return to Schooling and the Business Cycle: Additional Estimates." Journal of Human Resources 15,2 (Spring 1980): 273-277.
10. McElroy, Marjorie B.
Kniesner, Thomas J.
Family Structure, Race, and Feminization of Poverty
Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1986
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Keyword(s): Divorce; Family Background and Culture; Family Structure; Life Cycle Research; Marital Status; Poverty; Remarriage; Welfare; Women

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The substantial increase in the number of women living in poverty during the 1970s and the 1980s has been termed the feminization of poverty. Our research analyzes theoretically and empirically changes in family structure and the concomitant contribution to this trend. Our empirical work utilizes the NLS Mature Women's data to analyze the poverty experience of women at a crucial stage in the life cycle. Emphasized are the joint roles of chance, choice, and exogenous background factors in determining family structure. In particular, we present estimated multivariate hazard factors for divorce and remarriage and their relationship to poverty entry and exit. The focus is on predetermined factors--including both welfare generosity and demographics. We conclude by conjecturing that (at least through the year 2000) poverty will be defeminized.
Bibliography Citation
McElroy, Marjorie B. and Thomas J. Kniesner. "Family Structure, Race, and Feminization of Poverty." Working Paper, Department of Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1986.