We demonstrate that the notion of a “family constitution” (self-enforcing, renegotiation-proof family norm) requiring … family constitutions …

of an efficiency loss. Efficiency can be restored through suitably designed marriage contracts because they can provide …) use of marriage is affected by the possibility of divorce …

This paper studies the effect of child care provision on family structure. We present a model of a marriage market with …

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 …

This paper applies the theory of relational contracts to a model in which a couple decides whether to marry or cohabit … the legal costs of divorce, on the interrelationships among the decisions on marriage, fertility and divorce …

possible intellectual influences on Becker's theory of marriage, compares Becker's research on marriage with that of some …This paper describes Gary Becker's theoretical models of marriage. At the micro-level, these are all rational choice … models. At the market level, Becker offers two major types of models: partial equilibrium models based on Price Theory as …

In most Western economies, the flourishing of the Welfare State has coincided with a decline of the role of the family … the informal safety net in a period when social protection was provided by the family. Once the State started offering … suitable alternatives, the taboo was no longer expedient, and was dropped. For the same reasons, marriage has become less …

This paper explores the role of marriage when markets are incomplete so that individuals cannot diversify their … love. Is love more important to a lasting marriage than economic compatibility? To answer this question, I develop a simple … model where rational individuals meet, enjoy the economic and non-pecuniary benefits of marriage (i.e., love), and then must …

In a family context with endogenous timing, multiple public goods and alternative parental instruments, we show that …