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Are Household Services Overvalued?
Author(s) -
Murphy Martin
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1980.tb01291.x
Subject(s) - economics , valuation (finance) , econometrics , percentage point , finance
A bstract . It has been argued that estimates of the magnitude of household services relative to the Gross National Product (GNP) are generally overstated. Although under certain conditions this conclusion is justified, the explanations given are sometimes questionable. It is shown here that when overstatements do occur it is due to the need for valuation adjustments rather than quantity adjustments to the estimates. Moreover, depending on the points to be demonstrated it is equally correct to express such estimates as a percentage of the GNP or as a percentage of GNP plus household services. Some have argued to the contrary. It is further shown here that when valuations are adjusted to reflect labor market conditions and other factors, estimates of household services are reduced considerably.