View Research by Author - Philip K. Robins

Publications

Choice models are a key tool of empirically oriented rational choice researchers. However, most researchers do not have the information they need to adequately test their hypotheses and rely solely on individual characteristics of the choosers. The lack of information on the options and constraints parents face may lead researchers to conclude that choices are not rational, rather than to question whether they have the appropriate data. This issue is particularly important for researchers interested in modeling child care choice, since the characteristics of care are more amenable to policy intervention than the characteristics of persons. This paper estimates models of choice of child care arrangement that include measures of price, quality, and availability obtained directly from parents in the National Child Care Survey of 1990. This paper compares alternative estimates of the assoications of these characteristics with mode choice. Adding care characteristics to models with individual characteristics improves the explanation of parental child care choices. Using parent reports of the characteristics of arrangements they used and of those they did not use produces results more consistent with expectations than estimates based on predicted values. The results also suggest that having parent reports on the characteristics of alternatives not used improves the precision of estimates of the associations between prices and child care mode-choices. Correcting for selectivity does not appear to be a reasonable subsititute when such information is lacking. (Rationality and Society 8: 453-95, November 1996.)

Drawing on original research, noted experts on child support analyze the extent to which new child support enforcement laws are being implemented; the benefits and costs of different kinds of proposed guaranteed minimum child support benefits; and the relationship between child support payments and child well-being, including educational attainment. The volume summarizes the history of the child support system and of the research literature to date, evaluates New York State's pilot Child Assistance Program, and provides concrete guidance for policymakers.

Drawing on original research, noted experts on child support analyze the extent to which new child support enforcement laws are being implemented; the benefits and costs of different kinds of proposed guaranteed minimum child support benefits; and the relationship between child support payments and child well-being, including educational attainment. The volume summarizes the history of the child support system and of the research literature to date, evaluates New York State's pilot Child Assistance Program, and provides concrete guidance for policymakers.

The University of Wisconsin's Institute for Research on Poverty has broken new ground in the welfare reform process by working with the state of Wisconsin to design and implement a new child support assurance system (CSAS) and estimating its costs and benefits. The objective of CSAS is to hold noncustodial parents to their child support obligations while at the same time guaranteeing a minimum benefit to single-parent families. Included in this volume are the major research products of that effort, plus several specially commissioned chapters.

The University of Wisconsin's Institute for Research on Poverty has broken new ground in the welfare reform process by working with the state of Wisconsin to design and implement a new child support assurance system (CSAS) and estimating its costs and benefits. The objective of CSAS is to hold noncustodial parents to their child support obligations while at the same time guaranteeing a minimum benefit to single-parent families. Included in this volume are the major research products of that effort, plus several specially commissioned chapters.

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