Happily ever after? Intrahousehold bargaining and the distribution of utility within marriage

Dirk Bethmann and Robert Rudolf ()
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Robert Rudolf: Korea University

Review of Economics of the Household, 2018, vol. 16, issue 2, No 7, 347-376

Abstract: Abstract Using a rich longitudinal data set of married couples from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study, this article seeks to uncover the intramarital allocation of experienced utility and its drivers. We find both substantial gains from marriage and effects of relative predicted earnings outside of marriage on relative gains from marriage. These findings are consistent with cooperative bargaining models and with models viewing individuals as having a demand for household production services by a spouse, with market forces influencing the price of such services. In addition, we find that men benefit more from marriage than women and that this gender gap is more pronounced for older couples. This is likely to be due to social norms and prescribed gender roles which are more prevalent within the older generation.

Keywords: Intrahousehold bargaining; Marriage; Happiness; Gender asymmetry; Generation effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C78 D10 I31 J12 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Working Paper: Happily ever after? Intrahousehold bargaining and the distribution of utility within marriage (2015)
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DOI: 10.1007/s11150-016-9343-z

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