It's not clear (to me, anyway.) If new people were extremely productive, it seems that managers may want to encourage that type of person to be born, so they may give parents free shares for the child. If new people aren't very productive, then giving away shares for free doesn't make much sense.
>John A. Viator wrote: >>This would clearly affect the decision to have children in one of >>two ways (that I can think of): >>1. Couples would have fewer children if they had to purchase a >>share for each child they had. >>2. Couples would have more children if they were granted a share >>for each child they had. > >Yup. And which policy would profit maximizing managers choose? > >Robin Hanson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hanson.gmu.edu >Asst. Prof. Economics, George Mason University >MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444 >703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323 -- John A. Viator, Ph.D. Beckman Laser Institute 1002 Health Sciences Road East University of California Irvine, CA 92612 (949)824-3754 (949)824-6969 fax [EMAIL PROTECTED]