We investigate the role of marital patterns in explaining rising income inequality using a structural marriage matching … model with unobserved heterogeneity. This allows us to consider both the extensive and intensive margins of the marriage …

well-being and separation. We first estimate the marital surplus using a simple matching model of the marriage market with …

marry or cohabitate. Marriage encourages but does not ensure a higher level of spousal commitment, which in turn can … prefer to act with commitment in marriage are matched with someone who has the same preference. In such an equilibrium, the …-matching equilibria in which a partner who is willing to act with commitment in marriage is matched with someone who is not. In all such …

We develop a novel framework to analyze the structural implications of the marriage market for household consumption … patterns. We start by defining a revealed preference characterization of efficient household consumption when the marriage is … stable. In particular, stability means that the marriage matching is individually rational and has no blocking pairs. We show …

, utility must be transferable both within marriage and upon divorce, and the marginal rate of substitution between public and … that if divorce alters the way some goods are consumed (either because some goods that are public in marriage become …

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 …