The Economic Value of Virtue

Fabio Mariani

No 4875, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: Virtue is modeled as an asset that women can use in the marriage market: since men value virginity in prospective mates, preserving her virtue increases a woman's chances of marrying a high-status husband, and therefore allows for upward social mobility. Consistent with some historical and anthropological evidence, we find that the prevalence (and the value) of virginity, across societies and over time, can be influenced by socio-economic factors such as male income inequality, gender differences, social status and stratification, and overall economic development.

Keywords: marriage; cultural values; social classes; mating; gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 J12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2010-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul, nep-evo and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published - published in: Journal of Economic Growth, 2012, 17 (4), 323-356

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp4875.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The economic value of virtue (2012)
Working Paper: The economic value of virtue (2010)
Working Paper: The economic value of virtue (2008)
Working Paper: The economic value of virtue (2008)
Working Paper: The economic value of virtue (2008)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4875

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mark Fallak ().