Marriage and the Economy : Theory and Evidence From Advanced Industrial Societies

Marriage and the Economy explores how marriage influences the monetized economy as well as the household economy. Marriage institutions are to the household economy what business institutions are to the monetized economy, and marital status is clearly related to the household economy. Marriage also influences the economy as conventionally measured via its impact on labor supply, workers' productivity, savings, consumption, and government programs such as welfare programs and social security. The macro-economic analyses presented here are based on the micro-economic foundations of cost/benefit analysis, game theory, and market analysis. Micro-economic analysis of marriage, divorce, and behavior within marriages are investigated by a number of specialists in various areas of economics. Western values and laws have been very successful at transforming the way the world does business, but its success at maintaining individual commitments to family values is less impressive. -- from publisher description Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Figures......Page 11 Tables......Page 12 Contributors......Page 15 Foreword......Page 21 Acknowledgments......Page 23 ONE Marriage and theEconomy......Page 27 MICROECONOMIC THEORETICAL TOOLS......Page 28 Reactions to the Microeconomics of Marriage......Page 29 MARRIAGE MARKETS AND THE ECONOMY......Page 31 Individual Supply of Work-in-Marriage......Page 32 The Market for Work-in-Marriage......Page 36 Marriage Markets and the Monetized Economy......Page 41 The Economics of Marriage and Divorce......Page 44 Effects of Marriage on Income Uses......Page 45 Effects of Marriage on Time Uses......Page 47 Marriage and the Macroeconomy......Page 49 Implications for Policy......Page 50 Implications for Firms......Page 53 Broader Implications......Page 54 IN CONCLUSION......Page 56 REFERENCES......Page 57 PART I THE ECONOMICS OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE......Page 61 TWO The Economics of Marriage and Household Formation......Page 63 Delayed Marriage......Page 64 Rise in Non-Marital Cohabitation......Page 66 Changes in Fertility Behavior......Page 67 Crosscultural Variation......Page 68 ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF MARRIAGE......Page 69 EMPIRICAL MODELS OF MARRIAGE......Page 73 MARRIAGE AND RELATED BEHAVIORS......Page 75 REFERENCES......Page 77 THREE The Economics of Divorce......Page 81 GAINS FROM MARRIAGE AND THE PROCESS OF MARITAL SEARCH......Page 82 Characteristics of the Spouses and Their Match......Page 83 Investments in Marriage-Specific Human Capital......Page 87 Behaviors of the Partners before the Marriage......Page 92 Differences between First Marriages and Remarriages......Page 94 CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 96 REFERENCES......Page 97 FOUR The Effects of Public Policy on Marital Status in the United States......Page 101 Disincentives for Marriage in the Structure of the U.S. Welfare System......Page 102 Has Welfare Affected Marriage Behavior?......Page 104 INCOME TAXES AND MARITAL DECISIONS......Page 108 Tax Incentives and Marriage and Divorce Decisions......Page 112 NO-FAULT DIVORCE AND MARITAL CHOICES......Page 113 The Move from Mutual to Unilateral to No-Fault Divorce......Page 116 CONCLUSIONS......Page 121 REFERENCES......Page 124 PART II EFFECTS OF MARRIAGE ON INCOME USES......Page 129 FIVE Control over Money in Marriage......Page 131 WHAT DO ECONOMISTS KNOW?......Page 134 HOW FAMILIES MANAGE THEIR MONEY......Page 136 Material Equality?......Page 140 Determinants of Male and Female Control......Page 145 REFERENCES......Page 152 SIX Marriage, Assets, and Savings......Page 155 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS......Page 156 WEALTH DIFFERENCES ACROSS HOUSEHOLD TYPES......Page 159 HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE AND SAVINGS BEHAVIOR......Page 165 A MULTIVARIATE MODEL OF HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS......Page 169 REFERENCES......Page 177 SEVEN The Economics of Child Support......Page 179 AN OVERVIEW OF CHILD SUPPORT TODAY......Page 181 TRENDS OVER TIME IN CHILD-SUPPORT PAYMENTS......Page 183 CURRENT ISSUES IN IMPROVING CHILD-SUPPORT OUTCOMES......Page 187 Economic Well-Being of Custodial Mothers and Children......Page 190 The Mother’s Behavior......Page 192 The Father’s Behavior......Page 193 Empirical Findings......Page 197 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS......Page 198 REFERENCES......Page 199 EIGHT Marriage Prospects and Welfare Use......Page 203 Data on Welfare Entry and Exits......Page 204 Conceptual Framework......Page 206 Spouse Availability Affects Marriage Rates......Page 207 STATE-LEVEL SPOUSE AVAILABILITY AND WELFARE USE......Page 209 Hazard Model......Page 212 Modeling Welfare Durations......Page 213 Variable Definitions......Page 214 Results......Page 215 Separate Black and White Models......Page 218 CONCLUSION......Page 219 APPENDIX......Page 220 REFERENCES......Page 221 PART III EFFECTS OF MARRIAGE ON TIME USES......Page 225 NINE Marriage, Household Production, and Earnings......Page 227 WHO DOES THE HOUSEWORK: THEORY......Page 228 THE EFFECT OF HOUSEWORK TIME ON EARNINGS......Page 233 THE EFFECT OF HOUSEWORK SPECIALIZATION ON THE HUSBAND’S EARNINGS......Page 234 HOUSEWORK, TAXATION, AND EMPLOYEE BENEFITS......Page 235 THE VALUE OF HOUSEWORK IN DIVORCE OR DEATH......Page 237 VALUING HOME PRODUCTION......Page 238 THE LORNA WENDT AND GARY WENDT DIVORCE CASE......Page 240 SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 244 REFERENCES......Page 246 TEN Marriage and Work for Pay......Page 248 Employment Rates......Page 249 Earnings......Page 260 Fixed-Effects Models Based on Panel Data......Page 264 Marriage Market Econometric Models......Page 266 CONCLUSIONS......Page 269 REFERENCES......Page 270 ELEVEN Marriage, Work for Pay, and Childcare......Page 274 Modeling Childcare/Work for Pay Choices of All Parents......Page 276 Modeling theType of Third-Party Childcare Chosen......Page 278 Differences in Childcare/Employment Choices between Married and Single Parents......Page 279 Resulting Differences in Paid Childcare Use from Changing the Price of Childcare......Page 282 Resulting Difference in Employment from Changing the Price of Childcare......Page 283 Differences in Employment Status......Page 284 Differences in Use of Non-Maternal Childcare......Page 287 Differences in Percentage of Family Income Spent on Childcare......Page 289 Differences in the Responsiveness of Childcare Use and Employment to Changes in the Price of Childcare: Results from.........Page 290 CONCLUSIONS......Page 293 REFERENCES......Page 294 TWELVE Marriage and Home-Based Paid Employment......Page 297 BACKGROUND......Page 299 AN ECONOMIC MODEL OF CHOICE OF WORK SITE......Page 302 WHAT DO THE DATA SHOW?......Page 305 CONCLUSIONS......Page 312 APPENDIX......Page 314 REFERENCES......Page 315 PART IV MARRIAGE AND THE MACROECONOMY......Page 317 THIRTEEN Married Households and Gross Household Product......Page 319 MARRIED AND UNMARRIED HOUSEHOLDS DEFINED......Page 320 LIFE STAGE HOUSEHOLDS......Page 321 MOVEMENT THROUGH LIFE STAGE HOUSEHOLDS......Page 323 COMPARATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN AND MEN OVER LIFE STAGE HOUSEHOLDS......Page 326 Work in Younger Households without Children: Life Stage A, Twenties......Page 327 Work by Adults in Children Households: Life Stage B, Thirties and Forties......Page 329 Work by Older Households without Children: Life Stage D, Sixties Plus......Page 331 NATIONAL ACCOUNTS OF HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION......Page 332 NEW ESTIMATES OF AUSTRALIAN HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION......Page 334 CONTRIBUTION OF MARRIED HOUSEHOLDS TO HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION......Page 336 HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION INCOME AND EXTENDED INCOME......Page 338 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION......Page 341 REFERENCES......Page 342 FOURTEEN Marriage, Parental Investment, and the Macroeconomy......Page 344 A Rhetorical Problem......Page 345 The Family Business......Page 346 The Role of Parental Cooperation......Page 351 Marital Partnership and the Legal Infrastructure......Page 355 MARITAL PARTNERSHIP IN MACROECONOMIC MODELS: READING BETWEEN THE LINES......Page 356 INTRODUCING MARRIAGE TO MACROECONOMICS......Page 359 REFERENCES......Page 363 Index......Page 365 Marriage And The Economy / Shoshana Grossbard-shechtman -- The Economics Of Marriage And Household Formation / Michael J. Brien And Michelle E. Sheran -- The Economics Of Divorce / Evelyn L. Lehrer -- The Effects Of Public Policy / Leslie Whittington And James Alm -- Control Over Money In Marriage / Frances Woolley -- Marriage, Assets, And Savings / Joseph P. Lupton And James P. Smith / The Economics Of Child Support / Andrea H. Beller And John W. Graham -- Marriage Prospects And Welfare Use / John Fitzgerald -- Marriage, Household Production And Earnings / Joni Hersch -- Marriage And Work For Pay / Shoshana Grossbard-shechtman And Shoshana Neuman -- Marriage, Work For Pay, And Childcare / Rachel Connelly And Jean Kimmel -- Marriage And Home-based Paid Employment / Elizabeth Field-hendrey And Linda N. Edwards -- Married Households And Gross Household Product / Duncan Ironmonger And Faye Soupourmas -- Marriage, Parental Investment, And The Macroeconomy / Shirley Burggraf. Edited By Shoshana A. Grossbard-shechtman ; Foreword By Jacob Mincer. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This book examines the impact of marriage on labor force participation, productivity at work, savings, government programs, and many other aspects of the economy. Lawmakers, legal scholars, sociologists, psychologists, spiritual leaders and all concerned with threats to the institution of marriage and the values that it embodies benefit from this reexamination of a basic Western institution via the lens of professional economists.