“Behind every great man…”: the male marriage wage premium examined qualitatively

Sarah Ashwin and Olga Isupova

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Studies across diverse national contexts reliably show that married men earn more than unmarried men, but the mechanisms responsible for this are still disputed. This article explores the male marriage wage premium from a new perspective, using longitudinal qualitative data from Russia (N = 94). Qualitative research is particularly suited to identifying underlying processes and, by analyzing men's accounts of the influence of their marital trajectories on their work, the authors were able to reexamine existing hypotheses and develop new ones. They propose 4 mechanisms that they hypothesize can influence men's work motivation and performance: premarital planning, 2 distinct “breadwinner” effects using expectancy and self determination theory, and monitoring by wives. They integrate these mechanisms within gender theory, arguing that the treatment aspect of the male marriage wage premium is an outcome of the “coproduction” of masculinity within marriage. Their recontextualization of existing theory also enables them to reveal weaknesses in the specialization hypothesis.

Keywords: employment; gender; identity; marriage; men; qualitative methodology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-02
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in Journal of Marriage and Family, February, 2014, 76(1), pp. 37-55. ISSN: 0022-2445

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:55689

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