A simple identification strategy for Gary Becker's time allocation model

•We focus on Gary Becker's time allocation model.•This model is associated with an identification problem.•We present a simple approach to solve this identification problem.•The approach is based on the observability of a set of production shifters.

The implementation of Gary Becker's (1965) time allocation model is hampered by the fact that values of the different time uses are usually not observed. In practice, one often assumes that the value of time is uniform across time uses by using market wages. This approach implies a fundamental identification problem. We demonstrate that the identification problem can be solved if production shifters are available.