Estimating the value of leisure from a time allocation model

A new approach to calculate the value of leisure is developed and applied. This is derived from a consumer behaviour model that includes goods and activities. A system of time assignment equations is explicitly obtained from which the values of both leisure and work can be analytically calculated using econometrically estimated parameters. This framework is applied using detailed data from three samples in diverse settings: Santiago (Chile), Karlsruhe (Germany), and Thurgau (Switzerland). The empirically estimated values of leisure differ from the wage rate and a theoretical justification is provided.

[1]  F. Thomas Juster,et al.  Rethinking utility theory , 1990 .

[2]  M. B. Johnson.  TRAVEL TIME AND THE PRICE OF LEISURE , 1966 .

[3]  Richard Layard,et al.  HAPPINESS: HAS SOCIAL SCIENCE A CLUE? , 2003 .

[4]  A. Deserpa.  A Theory of the Economics of Time , 1971 .

[5]  Mark Aguiar,et al.  Measuring Trends in Leisure: The Allocation of Time Over Five Decades , 2006 .

[6]  Sergio Jara Díaz.  A general micromodel of users' behaviour: basic issues , 1998 .

[7]  Stefan Schönfelder,et al.  Analysing Swiss longitudinal travel data , 2005 .

[8]  Bruno S. Frey,et al.  Happiness and economics , 2001 .

[9]  S. Jara-Díaz.  Allocation and Valuation of Travel-Time Savings , 2007 .

[10]  Sergio R. Jara-Díaz,et al.  Time and Income in Travel Choice , 1998 .

[11]  K. Axhausen,et al.  Observing the rhythms of daily life: A six-week travel diary , 2002 .

[12]  S. Jara-Díaz.  On the goods-activities technical relations in the time allocation theory , 2003 .

[13]  Kwangsuck Lee,et al.  Estimating the value of leisure time in Korea , 2005 .

[14]  C. Oort,et al.  THE EVALUATION OF TRAVELLING TIME , 1969 .

[15]  C. A. Guevara,et al.  BEHIND THE SUBJECTIVE VALUE OF TRAVEL TIME SAVINGS: THE PERCEPTION OF WORK, LEISURE AND TRAVEL. , 2001 .

[16]  Gordon C. Winston.  Activity choice: A new approach to economic behavior☆ , 1987 .

[17]  Reuben Gronau,et al.  Home production -- A survey , 1986 .

[18]  Juan de Dios Ortúzar,et al.  Valuing Time With a Joint Mode Choice-Activity Model , 2006 .

[19]  Hélène Couprie,et al.  Time Allocation within the Family: Welfare Implications of Life in a Couple , 2007 .

[20]  J. Flemming,et al.  ON THE THEORY OF THE VALUATION AND ALLOCATION OF TIME: SOME COMMENTS , 1973 .

[21]  Nick Hanley,et al.  The Value of Leisure Time: A Contingent Rating Approach , 2001 .

[22]  W. Douglass Shaw,et al.  Searching for the Opportunity Cost of an Individual's Time , 1992 .