Do Spouses Cooperate? And If Not: Why?

Francois Cochard, Hélène Couprie () and Astrid Hopfensitz

No 2009-10, THEMA Working Papers from THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise

Abstract: Models of household economics require an understanding of economic interactions in families. Social ties, repetition and reduced strategic uncertainty make social dilemmas in couples a very special case that needs to be empirically studied. In this paper we present results from a large economic experiment with 100 maritally living couples. Participants made decisions in a social dilemma with their partner and with a stranger. We predict behavior in this task with individual and couples' socio-demographic variables, efficiency preferences and couples' marital satisfaction. As opposed to models explaining behavior amongst strangers, the regressions on couples’ decisions highlight clear patterns concerning cooperation behavior which could inspire future household decision-making models.

Keywords: Noncooperative Games; Laboratory, Individual Behavior; Household Production and Intra-household Allocation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C72 C91 D13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-gth and nep-soc
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (33)

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Working Paper: Do Spouses Cooperate? And If Not: Why? (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ema:worpap:2009-10

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