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Will Women Save more than Men? A Theoretical Model of Savings and Marriage

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Listed:
  • Shoshana Amyra Grossbard
  • Alfredo Marvao Pereira
  • Shoshana Grossbard

Abstract

This paper presents an inter-temporal model of individual behavior with uncertainty about marriage and divorce and which accommodates the possible presence of economies or diseconomies of scale from marriage. We show that a scenario of higher marriage rates and higher divorce rates will be associated with higher savings rates in the presence of economies of marriage and with lower savings rates in the presence of diseconomies of marriage. In the context of traditional gender roles, this implies higher saving rates by young men and lower saving rates by young women than in less traditional countries, the opposite being the case with saving rates of married women relative to those of married men. We establish the relevance of traditional gender roles and marital status to understanding cross-country variation in gender differentials in savings behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Shoshana Amyra Grossbard & Alfredo Marvao Pereira & Shoshana Grossbard, 2010. "Will Women Save more than Men? A Theoretical Model of Savings and Marriage," CESifo Working Paper Series 3146, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_3146
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Elsayyad, May & Konrad, Kai A., 2012. "Fighting multiple tax havens," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 295-305.
    2. Shoshana GROSSBARD, 2015. "Sex Ratios, Polygyny, and the Value of Women in Marriage - A Beckerian Approach," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(1), pages 13-25, March.
    3. Anja Koebrich Leon, 2013. "Religion and Economic Outcomes – Household Savings Behavior in the USA," Working Paper Series in Economics 268, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    4. Stefania Basiglio & Mariacristina Rossi & Riccardo Salomone & Costanza Torricelli, 2020. "Saving with a Social Impact: Evidence from Trento Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-15, October.
    5. Grossbard, Shoshana, 2016. "Marriage and Marriage Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 10312, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Wataru Kureishi & Midori Wakabayashi, 2013. "What motivates single women to save? the case of Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 681-704, December.
    7. Tansel Yilmazer & Stephen Lich, 2015. "Portfolio choice and risk attitudes: a household bargaining approach," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 219-241, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    savings behavior; marriage; divorce; economics of marriage; gender roles;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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