Spousal Conflict and Divorce

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Zhylyevskyy, Oleksandr
• 署名单位: Iowa State University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/666654
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 915-961
• 关键词: unilateral divorce; domestic violence; marriage market; household; LAWS; STATES

摘要

The optimal balance between keeping marriages intact, despite spousal conflict, and allowing for divorce is a subject of policy debate in the United States. To explore the trade-offs, I construct a structural model with information asymmetries, which may generate inefficient outcomes. Parameters are estimated using data from the National Survey of Families and Households. I find that eliminating separation periods decreases the conflict rate by 9.2% of its baseline level and increases the divorce rate by 4.0%. Perfect child support enforcement decreases the frequency of conflict and divorce by 2.7% and 21.2%, respectively, and reduces the incidence of inefficient divorces.