Assortative Mating and Divorce: Evidence from Austrian Register Data

Wolfgang Frimmel (), Martin Halla () and Rudolf Winter-Ebmer ()

No 4446, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Abstract: This paper documents that changes in assortative mating patterns over the last four decades along the dimensions of age, ethnicity and religion are not responsible for the increasing marital stability in Austria. Quite the contrary, without the rise in the age at marriage, divorce rates would be considerably higher. Immigration and secularization, and the resulting supply of spouses with diverse ethnicity and religious denominations had no overall effect on divorce rates. Countervailing effects – in line with theoretical predictions – offset each other. The rise in the incidence in divorce is most probably caused by changing social norms.

Keywords: assortative mating; divorce; marital instability; immigration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J11 J15 Z12 D1 R2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mig
Date: 2009-09

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Working Paper: Assortative Mating and Divorce: Evidence from Austrian Register Data (2009)
Working Paper: Assortative Mating and Divorce: Evidence from Austrian Register Data (2009)
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