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Divorce and the cost of housing: evidence from Iran

Author

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  • Mohammad Reza Farzanegan

    (Philipps-University of Marburg
    CESifo
    Marburg Centre for Institutional Economics (MACIE)
    ERF)

  • Hassan Fereidouni Gholipour

    (Swinburne University of Technology)

Abstract

Divorce trend in Iran has become a serious social concern that is suspected of being influenced by rising housing costs in an oil-based economy. Iran has the highest growth rate of divorce among Islamic countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. Using data from 30 provinces of Iran from 2002 to 2010, this paper examines the relationship between housing costs (house prices and rents) and divorce rate, controlling for other macroeconomic variables such as unemployment, inflation, and education in addition to regional, cultural, traditional, and conventional attitudes toward divorce. By applying panel fixed-effects and dynamic generalized methods of moments methods, our results suggest that increases in housing costs erode marital stability in Iran. Our main results are also supported when we focus on the shocks in housing costs, using the Vector autoregressive based impulse response and variance decomposition analyses of divorce rates at the national level from 1982 to 2010.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Hassan Fereidouni Gholipour, 2016. "Divorce and the cost of housing: evidence from Iran," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1029-1054, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:14:y:2016:i:4:d:10.1007_s11150-014-9279-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-014-9279-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Hassan F. Gholipour, 2018. "Divorce and Gold Coins: A Case Study of Iran," CESifo Working Paper Series 6873, CESifo.
    2. Zühal Özbay Daş & Gülşah Özşahin, 2021. "An empirical analysis of gentrification in Istanbul," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 501-526, June.
    3. Amr Ragab & Ayhab F. Saad, 2023. "The effects of a negative economic shock on male marriage in the West Bank," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 789-814, September.
    4. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Mehdi Feizi & Hassan F. Gholipour, 2019. "Drought and Property Prices: Empirical Evidence from Iran," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201916, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    5. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2023. "Years of life lost to revolution and war in Iran," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 2061-2103, November.
    6. Hassan F. Gholipour, 2020. "Urban house prices and investments in small and medium-sized industrial firms: Evidence from provinces of Iran," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(16), pages 3347-3362, December.
    7. Asnaashary, Mozhgan & Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Feizi, Mehdi & Gholipour, Hassan F., 2024. "Economic determinants of child marriage: Evidence from the Iranian provinces," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    8. Abounoori , Esmaiel & Abdoh Tabrizi , Hossein & Mahmoodi , Nooshin, 2017. "The Effect of Divorce on Urban Housing Costs in Iran: A Spatial Autocorrelation Model," Journal of Money and Economy, Monetary and Banking Research Institute, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, vol. 12(2), pages 107-122, April.
    9. Asna-ashary, Mozhgan & Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Feizi, Mehdi & Gholipour, Hassan, 2020. "Socio-economic determinants of child marriage: evidence from the Iranian provinces," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224513, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Pierre–André Chiappori & Natalia Radchenko & Bernard Salanié, 2018. "Divorce and the duality of marital payoff," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 833-858, September.
    11. Kjetil Bjorvatn & Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2015. "Natural-Resource Rents and Political Stability in the Middle East and North Africa," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 13(3), pages 33-37, October.
    12. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Sven Fischer, 2023. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Marriage and Childbirth: Survey-based Evidence from Iran," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202320, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    13. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Hassan F. Gholipour, 2018. "Does Gold Price Matter for Divorce Rate in Iran?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 588-599, December.
    14. Jonathan Torres‐Tellez & Alberto Montero Soler, 2023. "After the economic crisis of 2008: Economic conditions and crime in the last decade for the case of Spain," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 82(3), pages 223-239, May.
    15. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Mehdi Feizi & Hassan F. Gholipour, 2021. "Drought and Property Prices: Empirical Evidence from Provinces of Iran," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 203-221, July.
    16. Mingbo Zheng & Yin E Chen & Gen-Fu Feng & Jun Wen & Chun-Ping Chang, 2018. "Divorce And Housing Price In 31 Provinces Of China," Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Bank Indonesia, vol. 21(2), pages 161-176, October.
    17. repec:ces:ifodic:v:13:y:2015:i:3:p:19173861 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Rafael González-Val & Miriam Marcén, 2024. "Divorce law reforms and house prices in Europe," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 517-549, December.
    19. Maryam Moeeni & Arash Rashidian & Akbar Aghajanian, 2018. "Women’s relative status and childbearing intentions: Empirical evidence from Iran," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-10, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing costs; Divorce; Dynamic panel data; VAR; Impulse response; Iran;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets

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