Bargaining, altruism and demographic phenomena.

Argues first, given that the decisions that determine demographic phenomena are made within the family, the intrafamilial interaction that produces these decisions is a strategic phenomenon, and can be fruitfully analyzed within a bargaining-cum-altruism framework. Second, these decisions can be analyzed with models in which agents make conscious choices. Third, markets play a special role in shaping the environment in which these decisions are made. Applies these ideas in the study of four demographic phenomena: fertility; marital dissolution; family nucleation; migration and remittances. Suggests that to properly explain, hypothesize about, and predict demographic phenomena, some explicit accounting for bargaining and altruism is appropriate. -from Author