D10 - Household Behavior: GeneralReturn

The study provides estimates of the size of the fatherhood premium for the Czech Republic in the years 2006‒2017, using data from the EU SILC survey. In the years 2006‒2009, the fatherhood premium in the Czech Republic does not manifest itself if explanatory variables include the marriage premium and the partner's labour market participation. The fatherhood premium only starts to express itself in 2010 and the following years, when it reaches values from 11% to 15% as a consequence of a decision of families with high-income fathers to have a third child in the years after 2010.

We use EU SILC data for the Czech Republic to estimate the size of the motherhood penalty for the period 2006-2017. We find out that adjusted motherhood penalty amounts to 11-15% in the period 2006-2008. At that time, the Czech Republic appeared to be comparable to countries such as Germany and the UK. However, the motherhood penalty effectively disappears after 2009 and the Czech Republic is now placed in the same group with Scandinavian countries, France and Belgium. Despite that, there are still many obstacles for mothers to increase their labour market participation, which translate mainly into wage penalties via the experience and labour intensity channels. The study also supports other general evidence from cross-country motherhood penalty comparisons, motherhood penalty being mostly a phenomenon of middle-educated, married women located outside large cities, employed in private industry and having more than one child.

This paper tests the selected determinants shaping the careers of women. It uses data from an exclusive survey conducted in 2011 in the Czech Republic and confronts the results with Hakim's preference theory. The results suggest arguments both for against the preference theory. We formulated four hypotheses and verifi ed them by binary probit models. In accordance with the Hakim's theory we were able to demonstrate that the preference for work (work-centered preference)has a positive and signifi cant impact on the career choices of women on the Czech labor market. According to the results of the model is the work-centered preference associated with 52% increase in likelihood that a woman will spend most of the energy in employment. The impact of higher education has been shown to be positive and signifi cant - higher education increases the likelihood that a woman will spend most of the energy is employment by more than 14%. The impact of motherhood is according to our data negative and signifi cant. It reduces the likelihood of career choices by more than 19% and this effect is the same for one and more children which is in contrast to Hakim's theory.

The purpose of the paper is to map the economic theory of Gary Becker. The first part outlines the life of Gary Becker. The second part analyses his economic approach to human behaviour. The third part covers the economics of discrimination. The fourth part examines the human capital theory. The fifth part is concerned with crime and punishment. The sixth part deals with economics of the family. The seventh part outlines economics of life.

Using cross-sectional data from WageIndicator web survey for Czech Republic, this paper shows that motherhood has a negative effect on women's wages. The penalty is between 1-13%, depending on personal characteristics. Results of auxiliary regressions suggest that behind the negative effect is loss of human capital caused by maternity and parental leave as well as lower work effort of mothers at work and self-selection of mothers into more mother-friendly jobs. We have found a significant motherhood wage penalty in the private sector. However, in the public sector mothers receive a 1% wage premium. In contrast with theory, results show that low educated women yield a 4% premium for motherhood. In conclusion, the motherhood wage penalty in Czech Republic exhibits properties similar to those found in other European and US studies.

The relatively new stream of research on various types of utilities is reviewed and discussed together with some of its implications. The distinction is explained among experienced utility, remembered utility and predicted utility as three candidates for decision utility. Examples of selected empirical findings are given which show discrepancies, first, between past experienced utility and remembered utility and, second, between predicted utility and actual future experienced utility. Some critical reactions to the findings are briefly mentioned as well as implications for the debate on some important moral issues such as paternalism and HIV testing. It is concluded that there may be some methodological doubts about the empirical evidence available so far but even so, the evidence indicates that the tendency of models in economics to work with "the" utility to be maximised may be an overly simplified picture of the actual process of evaluation of outcomes.

The author raises doubts about a sense of "catching up" and an idolatry of HDP's growth. His argumentation is based on the longitudinal international research of the link "economics-happiness" at the frontier between economics and psychology. The rationality of economic science "more is better" is bounded by environmental and relational externalities: it is just what a "theory of happiness" argues against a "joyless economy". The family-household is an old istitution esp. loosing in a competition with the market economy. The article stresses a role of "relational goods" explaining why more is sometimes less. The loss of happiness in market democracies (R.Lane) is the reason for a crisis of economic paradigm; it has a chance to be healed by a switch from the principle of imperial equivalence to a reciprocity (economy of communion). Implications for economic policies based on a "science of happiness" reverse the link "economics-happiness" making from HDP growth a by-product of our effort for happiness.

Macroeconomic policy is often evaluated solely on the basis of empirical evidence, such as observing the behavior of macroaggregates. This paper argues that this approach bears a shortcoming: "improvement" of macroaggregates can be socially undesirable under certain circumstances. Thus the sole exploration of macroaggregates is not sufficient to evaluate the macroeconomic policy -axiomatic economic theory must be used as well to determine whether the outcomes of macroeconomic policy are beneficial to society or not. The paper first offers a precise definition of a social welfare function (based as much as possible on microfoundations). Then it considers the possibility that macroaggregates might not always correlate with society's welfare. Some illustrations are covered too.

World economy slowed down more than 2 %, which was the main feature of its development in 2001. There were more factors behind this economic slowdown, primarily the faltering upswing of the world crude oil price, problems of the technological sector, and September 11 events in the USA. Recession forces hit world trade and investment activities in particular. Main sources of economic growth were thus significantly weakened in consequence. The growth rate of GDP in the EU slowed down from 3.3 % in 2000 to 1.6 % in 2001. A larger fall of the economy was prevented by only a slight deceleration of the growth of household consumption from 2.7 % in 2000 to 2.0 % in 2001 and keeping the dynamic growth of services between 2 % and 4 %. However, external trade growth rates were only a third on 2000 and came to limit Czech external trade dynamics in the second half of the year.