In this paper I use the theory of Markov Decision Processes to understand aspects of arranged marriages. I construct a stylized model of arranged marriages and, inter alia, I show that a decision maker's optimal marrying rule depends only on the nature of the current marriage proposal,...

Researchers have paid scant attention to matchmaking from the perspective of a matchmaker. Therefore, our purpose is to analyze the circumstances under which a matchmaker optimally accepts or rejects individual matching assignments. We concentrate on two specific cases. In the first (second)...

Recently, Batabyal (2005) has analyzed a game model of dowry determination in which a mediator plays a key role. Batabyal's analysis shows that the equilibrium dowry offers from the bride and the groom optimally trade off the desire to make an assertive offer with the likelihood that this offer...

It is now common for parents and relatives of an individual seeking to have an arranged marriage to set up one or more meetings between this individual and prospective spouses. As a result of these meetings, prospective spouses get exposed to this marrying individual. Even though this exposure...

Even though arranged marriages have been around for quite a while, the economics literature has paid little attention to the nature of decision making in such marriages. Therefore, very little is known about the impacts of alternate decision rules on the spouse selection question in arranged...