Family Theory (Translation of Famous Works)

Author: Gary S. Becker
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-19
Features: The Family is based on the study of family issues and proposes an economic analysis of the family. Although it utilizes the author's previous research findings, many of the analyses offer unique insights. Chapter 2 examines the division of labor between men and women and individuals with equal qualities within the family. Chapter 3 integrates the effects of polygamy, the demand for children, differences between men, and other variables. Chapter 9 analyzes mating and offspring quantity in non-human species. Chapter 11 discusses the nuclear family, extended family, and kinship issues in traditional, ancient, and modern societies. The basic analyses in other chapters are consistent with those already presented in the published works, but the content of these discussions has been rewritten. This book primarily focuses on deepening the analysis, but most chapters also include empirical materials, recent statistics, historical studies of specific rural, urban, and national contexts, the situation of Islamic, African, and Eastern societies, as well as ethnographic histories of primitive societies. These materials are not systematic, but their breadth demonstrates the comprehensiveness of the proposed analysis, which is at least partially applicable to families in the past or present, primitive or modern, and both Eastern and Western cultures.