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Title: Partner search and the American marriage market, 1880-1930

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: Both anecdotal and statistical evidence suggests that American marriage grew more unstable at the beginning of the 20th century. I investigate the causes behind this concurrent increase in marriage rate and in marital disruption rate. Economic theory from Becker (1993) suggests that causes of increased breakups occur either as a result of increased search costs (more bad matches in successive marriage cohorts) or a decrease in the value of marriage relative to outside options. I argue that although the value of singlehood increased in the early 20th century particularly for working single women) the expected benefit of marriage increased even faster, leading more couples to tie the knot. At the same time, the early age at marriage meant that spouses married with less detailed knowledge about each other, leading to a greater probability of a later disruption.

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Authors: Cvrcek, Tomas

Publisher: Center for Economic Research & Grad Educ

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage

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