The Allocation of Time: Empirical Findings, Behavioral Models, and Problems of Measurement

It can be argued that the fundamental scarce resource in the economy is the availability of human time and that the allocation of time to various activities will ultimately determine the relative prices of goods and services, the growth path of real output, and the distribution of income. The origins and evolution of time allocation data are described briefly. Some recent descriptive data among countries and over time are presented. One finding is that there are substantial differences among industrialized countries in time use patterns. Measurement issues, which seem to be of greater importance to this topic than to most other areas of economic inquiry, are examined. Some of the behavioral models that use time allocation data are investigated, and principal findings are summarized. Social accounting systems that place substantial reliance on time use data are reviewed.