Joint production in the theory of household production

Another, less noted, alternative is joint production (performance of two or more home production tasks simultaneously). Under increasing time pressures, households may engage in increased amounts of joint production, even though certain additional costs are involved, such as increased stress levels and decreased product quality. However, these additional costs may be acceptable if they are less than the savings in time.

This analysis tested hypotheses relating to joint production through a model based on the Becker formulation of goods and time as inputs in the production of commodities (commodities represent the sources of consumer satisfaction, and are combinations of goods and time inputs). The model was developed to accommodate the complexities of joint production, and was used to identify a set of hypotheses about the degree to which households engaged in joint production.

The model was tested using a sample of 603 married respondents, interviewed by the Survey Research Center, University of Michigan. Respondents recorded the amount of time they spent in joint production.

Results showed that men worked more than twice as many hours per week as women and earned almost twice as much money per hour. Women devoted more time to joint production than men. There was no difference in educational level.

Regression equations showed that four variables had a significant effect upon joint production time: education, unearned income, hours worked in the market and number of children. Increases in the variables were associated with increased joint production.

Respondents with preschoolers did the most joint production and respondents without children or with teenagers did the least amount of joint production. Men devoted more time to joint production as they worked more hours in the market and had more children. Employed women without children devoted more time to joint production than nonemployed women without children. When comparing employed women with children to those not employed with children, there were no significant differences in the time devoted to joint production. One explanation is that the presence of children places such great demands upon female joint production that working in the market makes little difference.

This study supports the notion that increased labor force participation does increase the demand for joint production, especially when the individual has a high educational level. Because increased amounts of joint production have also been tied to increased stress, there may be an emerging need to help families deal with stress related to joint production.