Full Citation
Title: Social Effects in Marriage Markets: Theory, Existence, Magnitude, and Nature
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 1999
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Abstract: This dissertation proposes that the family formation decision of individuals and couples are influenced by the decisions of other individuals in society. The existence of such 'social effects' could help to reconcile the magnitude of the changes predicted by existing models with the much more profound changes that actually occurred in recent decades, and it might explain why individuals not directly affected by various shocks might still alter their behavior in response to them. These effects could be transmitted directly from one person to another (e.g., by affecting their attitudes) or they be mediated by markets for goods or marriage partners. We present theories for several of these possible mechanisms. We then develop two unrelated methods for identifying and measuring the magnitude of these effects, and we apply these methods to data from the 1980 U.S. Census. Our results from both methods indicate that a 10 percentage point increase in the fraction of the young persons (16-44) who are single causes the marriage rate of young persons to fall by 1.5-2.0 percentage points. This suggests that approximately 30 percent of the decline in marriage rates among young adults over the last quarter century could be caused by such feedback (i.e., the increase in the fraction single). Finally, we make initial attempts to determine the nature of these effects and we find no evidence for the existence of effects transmitted directly between individuals.
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Authors: Drewianka, Scott David
Institution: University of Chicago
Department: Department of Economics
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Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Publisher Location: Chicago, IL
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Aging and Retirement, Family and Marriage
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