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Tying the Double-Knot: The Role of Assets in Marriage Commitment

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  • Jeanne Lafortune
  • Corinne Low

Abstract

What explains the growing gap in marriage rates between socioeconomic groups? We present a robust stylized fact not previously documented: marriage rates are higher for individuals with more assets. We argue this may be driven by marriage and cohabitation becoming increasingly similar in a number of ways except for the way assets become marital property to be divided upon divorce in marriage while they remain individual property in the case of cohabitation. We propose that ownership of assets may provide "insurance" to the partner making individually costly, but jointly optimal, investments in children, thus raising the value of marriage.

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  • Jeanne Lafortune & Corinne Low, 2017. "Tying the Double-Knot: The Role of Assets in Marriage Commitment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 163-167, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:107:y:2017:i:5:p:163-67
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171058
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Siwan Anderson & Chris Bidner, 2021. "An Institutional Perspective on the Economics of the Family," Discussion Papers dp21-14, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    2. Leslie S. Stratton, 2023. "Marriage Versus Cohabitation: How Specialization and Time Use Differ by Relationship Type," Research in Labor Economics, in: Time Use in Economics, volume 51, pages 187-218, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    3. Goussé, Marion & Leturcq, Marion, 2022. "More or less unmarried. The impact of legal settings of cohabitation on labour market outcomes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    4. Jeanne Lafortune & Corinne Low, 2017. "Betting the House: How Assets Influence Marriage Selection, Marital Stability, and Child Investments," Documentos de Trabajo 497, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    5. Margarida Madaleno, 2024. "Access to housing credit and marriage: evidence from redlining maps," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1397-1422, December.
    6. Denton R. Vaughan & Barbara A. Haley & Aref N. Dajani, 2021. "Ten years later: Self‐sufficiency of welfare mothers before the Great Recession," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(2), pages 184-223, June.
    7. Ya Gao & Rob Alessie & Viola Angelini, 2023. "Parental housing wealth and children’s marriage prospects in China—evidence from CHARLS," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 615-644, June.
    8. Chigavazira, Abraham & Fisher, Hayley & Robinson, Tim & Zhu, Anna, 2019. "The Consequences of Extending Equitable Property Division Divorce Laws to Cohabitants," Working Papers 2019-02, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    9. Jeanne Lafortune & Corinne Low, 2023. "Collateralized Marriage," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 252-291, October.
    10. Hanno Foerster, 2019. "Untying the Knot: How Child Support and Alimony Affect Couples' Decisions and Welfare," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2019_115v2, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    11. Fabio Blasutto & Egor Kozlov, 2020. "(Changing) Marriage and Cohabitation Patterns in the US: do Divorce Laws Matter?," 2020 Papers pbl245, Job Market Papers.
    12. Alicia Eads & Laura Tach & Lauren Griffin, 2023. "Intra-household Financial Inequality, Gender Equality, and Marital Dissolution," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 373-393, June.
    13. Fabio Blasutto, 2024. "Cohabitation vs. Marriage: Mating Strategies by Education in The USA," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(4), pages 1723-1761.
    14. Frémeaux, Nicolas & Leturcq, Marion, 2020. "Inequalities and the individualization of wealth," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    15. Clara E. Piano, 2022. "Autocratic family policy," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 233-253, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • K36 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Family and Personal Law

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