A note on work-leisure choice, human capital accumulation, and endogenous growth

Abstract

The growth model of Lucas [Lucas Jr., R.E., 1988. On the mechanics of economic development. Journal of Monetary Economics 22 (1), 3-42] is enriched with people having the opportunity to optimally allocate a fraction of their time to non-productive activities ('leisure'). It is found that the chosen amount of leisure reduces the steady-state rate of growth of per capita output. This implies that the association between income and welfare may not be as strong as it is usually assumed to be. The optimal allocation of time among activities depends on some of the parameters and the marginal product of physical capital per capita. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.