SMU SOE Online Seminar (Apr 14, 2021, 4pm-5.30pm): The Changing Wage Distribution and the Decline of Marriage

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TOPIC:

THE CHANGING WAGE DISTRIBUTION AND THE DECLINE OF MARRIAGE

ABSTRACT In this paper, we introduce a search-and-matching framework to study educational choices, and household formation and dissolution over the life-cycle. In this model, sorting patterns on the marriage market are driven by both economies of scale in household production and consumption, and search frictions. We discuss the identiﬁcation of both objects with panel data on marriages and divorces. We estimate the model with PSID data and document how the gains from marriage, marriage market segmentation, and returns to college have changed in the U.S. over the last 50 years. Through our structural model, we show that changes in the wage distribution alone would lead to an increase of college education equally for both genders, could explain almost 20% of the total decline of marriage, but would also reduce women’s marriage market returns to college. On the other hand, we show that changes in household production, gender norms, and search frictions have given female college graduates an edge on marriage markets. The positive interaction between the increasing college wage premium and the changes in marriage market fundamentals explains the fast rise of female college education. Keywords: Marriage markets, divorce, remarriage, human capital investment, search and matching. JEL Codes: D13, J11, J12. Click here to view the paper. Click here to view the CV.		This seminar will be held virtually via Zoom. A confirmation email with the Zoom details will be sent to the registered email by 13 April 2021.
		PRESENTER Eduardo Ciscato Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
		RESEARCH FIELDS Labor Economics Family Economics
		DATE: 14 April 2021 (Wednesday)
		TIME: 4.00pm - 5.30pm

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