J22 - Time Allocation and Labor SupplyReturn

The article examines the differences in individual discount rates among the Roma ethnic group (Gypsies) and the Czech ethnic group. Low income, low education, and currently unemployed participants (Roma N=27, Czechs N=23) were subjected to pilot experiments based on in-depth questionnaires. In addition to impulsivity (delay-discount rates), the correlation with cognitive aptitude, risk attitudes, and various socioeconomic and demographic characteristics were analysed. Even though the Roma group was characterised by lower cognitive abilities, education, and financial literacy, our results indicate that participants from both groups appear to be equally impatient, with discount rates close to the values of individuals dependent on addictive substances (according to the results of some earlier foreign studies). Nevertheless, the Roma ethnic group is better characterised by inconsistent discounting compared to the Czechs who behave more consistently. However, these results are not robust to alternative estimation characteristics. We also found a positive effect of financial literacy on savings in the Roma sample. The conclusion discusses the influence of the environmental context on impulsivity and reviews the limitations of the study.

The article presents two other applications of the standard neoclassical model of consumption-leisure choice, which forms the individual labour supply. The first one is decision making concerning time allocation with regard to household production; the second one is focused on labour supply over the life cycle. The final part supports the theoretical conclusions of models with selected recent statistical data from the Czech background.

The article deals with a subject s decisions about his individual labour supply. It explains the development of this problem from the cardinalistic point of view, characteristic for marginalistic economists, concerning ordinalistic decision-making between consumption and free time. The gist of this contribution is extending the basic neo-classical model in the sense of analysing selected application cases. Considered to be one of the most important applications of this model, household decision-making about labour supply has been analysed. Shared childcare and running the household as a unit influences the labour supply of the family members.