The Heckman Procedure for Estimating Static Disaggregate Labour Supply Functions: An International Comparison of Estimates for Married Women

Abstract

This paper undertakes a cross-country comparison of nine recent studies which estimate disaggregate labour supply functions for married women in a static framework using the Heckman method of correcting for sample selectivity bias. Comparison of the empirical results for the reduced form equations and the derived estimates of the underlying structural parameters shows that despite significant inter-country variations in aggregate labour force participation rates, and in the definitions of key variables, the derived uncompensated and compensated wage elasticities are remarkably robust.