Divorced in a Flash: The Effect of the Administrative Divorce Option on Marital Stability in the Netherlands

Jan Kabátek

Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

Abstract: Administrative divorce is an optional divorce procedure which allows couples to bypass the court system and dissolve their marriages in a streamlined, uncontested process. The lack of court involvement renders the administrative divorce faster and less expensive than the conventional divorce. In this paper, I investigate whether the administrative divorce option affected the stability of marriages in the Netherlands. Leveraging the ban of the procedure in 2009, I show that the divorce risks were 11.6% higher under the legal regime which allowed for administrative divorce. This effect is causal, and it exhibits considerable heterogeneity, being stronger among dual-earner couples, native couples, and couples living in rural regions.

Keywords: Marital stability; divorce; administrative divorce; divorce costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J18 K36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44pp
Date: 2018-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law
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https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/a ... 935467/wp2018n12.pdf (application/pdf)

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Working Paper: Divorced in a Flash: The Effect of the Administrative Divorce Option on Marital Stability in the Netherlands (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2018n12

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