We document that female breadwinners do more home production than their male partners, driven by "housework" like cooking and cleaning. By comparing to same sex couples, we highlight that specialization within heterosexual households does not appear to be "gender neutral" even after accounting...

We develop a model of the household where investments in public goods can be made at the cost of future earnings. If couples cannot commit ex ante to a sufficiently equal post-divorce allocation, specialization and public goods' creation will be sub-optimal. However, investing in joint assets,...

We study the role of wealth in the marriage contract by developing a model of the household where investments in public goods can be made at the cost of future earnings. If couples cannot commit ex ante to a sufficiently equal post-divorce allocation, specialization and public good creation will...

Marriage used to be practically universal, but now persists as an institution for only some groups, while others choose non-marital fertility. This paper posits that if one role of marriage is to insure one partner's investment in children, then home-ownership can be seen as providing the...