The Economic Contribution of Children in Peasant Agriculture andthe Effect of Education: Evidence from the Philippines

Issues of consumption-leisure choice and of the effect ofeducation are at the centte of the debate on labour supply and on theeconomic value of children in peasant agriculture. This paper providesempirical evidence on how education affects child labour supply in anextended commodity demand-labour supply framework, using farmhouseholdsurvey data from the Philippines. The empirical results of this paperpoint out that adult and child labour respond normally to changes inwages, that a complementarity exists between adult and child labour infarm operations, that children have a positive economic conttibution tofarm households in peasant agriculture, and that education may have alimited impact in reducing fertility in rural households.