"For richer, for poorer": savings preferences and choice of spouse

Do couples share the same values? The social sciences have mainly concentrated on comparing the socioeconomic characteristics of spouses, but rarely their prefer- ences to risk and time. In this paper, we use conventional measurements and an original method of scoring. We nd that spouses are very similar in their savings preferences, even when we control for the individual characteristics. Our results suggest that most of this relationship comes from marital sorting. The eects of at- trition or time are likely to be limited. These conclusions are decisive in explaining the extent of cooperation within households and also wealth inequalities between households since homogamy cause a divide in the population.