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Making Big Decisions: The Impact of Moves on Marriage among U.S. Army Personnel

Author

Listed:
  • Payne Carter, Susan

    (U.S. Military Academy, West Point)

  • Wozniak, Abigail

    (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis)

Abstract

We use exogenously determined, long-distance relocations of U.S. Army soldiers to investigate the impact of moving on marriage. We find that marriage rates increase sharply around the time of a move in an event study analysis. Reduced form exposure analysis reveals that an additional move over a five year period increases the likelihood of marriage by 14 percent. Moves increase childbearing by a similar magnitude, suggesting that marriages induced by a move are formed with long-term intentions. These findings are consistent with a model where the marriage decision is costly and relocation lowers the costs to making this decision. Our results have implications for understanding how people make major life decisions such as marriage, as well as the cost of migration.

Suggested Citation

  • Payne Carter, Susan & Wozniak, Abigail, 2018. "Making Big Decisions: The Impact of Moves on Marriage among U.S. Army Personnel," IZA Discussion Papers 11308, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11308
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    Cited by:

    1. Wozniak, Abigail & Baker, Michael T. & Carter, Susan P., 2024. "Peer Effects and Marriage Formation," IZA Discussion Papers 17443, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Carter, Susan Payne & Swisher, Ryan D., 2020. "The effect of moving away from home on employee retention: Evidence among U.S. army soldiers," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    decision-making costs; relocation; migration; marriage;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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