In this paper we extend the Becker-Keeley and Bergstrom-Bagnoli theories of the optimal age at marriage and derive systematic cross-cultural differences in the marriage pattern. We then examine the empirical relevance of the hypotheses for Jewish and Moslem population groups in Israel. The...

In many countries, an expired labor contract is automatically extended during the often-protracted delay before the new contract is signed. Our theoretical model focuses on macroeconomic factors in explaining the delay. It emphasizes the importance of the realized nominal and real shocks, and of...

This paper studies a general-equilibrium model of a dynamic economy with menu costs. Each firm's productivity is exposed to idiosyncratic and aggregate productivity shocks around a trend, and the money supply to monetary shocks around a trend. All consumption, pricing, and production decisions...

The prevalence of labor contracts with fixed duration seems surprising. Why is a fixed duration preferred to a stochastic duration that depends on the consumer price index? In this paper, the specification of the contract duration is determined endogenously. The wage rate can be indexed to the...

This article incorporates contract reopeners into the analysis of contract duration and compares contracts with a reopener to contracts that cannot be reopened. The model contains relative and nominal shocks. It is shown that the stated duration of a reopenable contract is shortened by...