recognition between men and women that provides a microfoundation for the institution of marriage. In the model, men and women …. As a socially sanctioned commitment device among partners, the institution of marriage reduces this risk by restraining … societal, economic, and technological changes in their effects on marriage patterns. A combination of factors is argued to …

This paper provides a first microeconomic foundation for the institution of marriage. Based on a model of reproduction …, mating, and parental investment in children, we argue that marriage serves the purpose of attenuating the risk of mating …, marriage circumscribes female infidelity and mate poaching among men, which reduces average levels of paternal uncertainty in …

Decisions concerning marriage, fertility, participation, and the education of children are explained using a two … assignment of property rights over total goods and assets acquired within marriage, (iii) enforceability of bride-price contracts …

women. Historically, women with more education have been the least likely to marry and have children, but this marriage gap … has eroded as the returns to marriage have changed. Marriage and remarriage rates have risen for women with a college … degree relative to women with fewer years of education. However, the patterns of, and reasons for, marriage have changed …

that introduced unilateral divorce, which makes dissolution of marriage easier. Most of this effect is due to a decline of … divorce laws on the probability of entering and exiting marriage. Women planning to have children marry more easily with an … easier exit option from marriage. Thus, more children are born in the first years of marriage, while the total marital …

of these custody law reforms on the incidence of marriage and divorce. Our identification strategy exploits the different … data suggest that the introduction of joint custody led to a long-run increase in marriage rates. There is no convincing … dampened the persistent downturn in marriage. Our empirical evidence is fully consistent with the supposition that these …

We use elementary game-theoretical concepts to compare domestic equilibria with and without marriage. In particular, we … examine the effects of marriage legislation, matrimonial property regime, and divorce court sentencing practice, on the … decision to marry, and on the choice of game conditional on marriage. We find that, in the absence of social stigma or legal …

This paper examines the effect of public assistance, labor market and marriage market conditions on the prevalence of … woman's marriage market appear to lead to fewer never married mothers, but more divorced mothers. Higher child support or …