a) Consider a couple whose behaviour follows the unitary household model. Their preferences can be represented by the utility function: U(CM; CH) = min (CM, CH), where CM, denotes market goods and CH denotes home production. Each spouse can work up to 50 hours per week, and those 50 hours can be divided between market work and home production. Joe and Anna are each paid £20 per hour for market work. Joe produces £20 of home production per hour, while Anna produces £30 per hour of home production. How many hours are each of the spouses allocating to home production and market work?
a) Consider a couple whose behaviour follows the unitary household model. Their preferences can be represented by the utility function: U(CM; CH) = min (CM, CH), where CM, denotes market goods and CH denotes home production. Each spouse can work up to 50 hours per week, and those 50 hours can be divided between market work and home production. Joe and Anna are each paid £20 per hour for market work. Joe produces £20 of home production per hour, while Anna produces £30 per hour of home production. How many hours are each of the spouses allocating to home production and market work?
b) Suppose that Anna is offered a pay raise, so that her hourly market wage increases to £25, and nothing else changes. Will that change the identity of the spouse who works more hours on the market? Explain your answer. [Hint there is no need to calculate the full solution to this case]
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