Occupational Variation in Quantity–Quality Trade-off in a Brawn-Based Economy

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The paper revisits the theory of the quantity–quality trade-off and demonstrates that the relationship between quantity and health of children is subject to occupational variation in physical energy requirements. It embeds, in a simple household optimisation model, a minimum consumption requirement that rises with physical work intensity of occupation. Occupational differences in minimum consumption requirement generates variation in child nutritional status – the shadow price of quantity, which in turn generates varying quantity–quality relationships. The model yields an equilibrium relationship between the number and nutritional status of children that is positive for households in strenuous occupations and ambiguous for other households. A numerical example using a calibrated model illustrates that these trade-offs are consistent with the phenomenon of intergenerational persistence of nutritional status. These new insights into the nature of the quantity-quality trade-off help reconcile some inconsistent empirical findings on such trade-offs.