We derive distributional effects for a non-cooperative alternative to
the unitary model of household behaviour. We consider the Nash equilibria
of a voluntary contributions to public goods game. Our main result is
that, in general, the two partners either choose to contribute to
different public goods or they contribute to at most one common good. The
former case corresponds to the separate spheres case of Lundberg and Pollak (1993). The second outcome yields
(local) income pooling. A household will be in different regimes depending
on the distribution of income within the household. Any bargaining model
with this non-cooperative case as a breakdown point will inherit the local
income pooling. We conclude that targeting benefits such as child benefits
to one household member may not always have an effect on outcomes. Copyright © The Author(s). Journal compilation © Royal Economic Society 2009.
