Household Production As A Moderator In Singapore’s Economic Development

Abstract

This chapter reviews the methodological and empirical literature on valuing household production. It presents a summary of sectoral shifts of the labour market in Singapore during its economic growth stage and their implications. The chapter describes the methodology and simulations used to portray growth and structural change in extended (market plus non-market) gross domestic product (GDP) in Singapore. It introduces the model of household labour allocation used to assess the monetary value of unpaid production by women. There are two main approaches to valuing non-market household production?output and input-based. The chapter compares market labour force participation rates (LFPR) for men and women with the ?homemaker? labour force participation rates in Singapore, between 1977 and 2004. Economists have argued for many years, that failure to account for household production introduces a bias in various areas of economic analysis. Keywords: economic growth; gross domestic product (GDP); homemaker labour force; household labour allocation; household production; labour force participation rates (LFPR); labour market; Singapore