Making Big Decisions: The Impact of Moves on Marriage among U.S. Army Personnel

Susan Carter and Abigail Wozniak

No 11308, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We use exogenously determined, long-distance relocations of U.S. Army soldiers to investigate the impact of moving on marriage. We find that marriage rates increase sharply around the time of a move in an event study analysis. Reduced form exposure analysis reveals that an additional move over a five year period increases the likelihood of marriage by 14 percent. Moves increase childbearing by a similar magnitude, suggesting that marriages induced by a move are formed with long-term intentions. These findings are consistent with a model where the marriage decision is costly and relocation lowers the costs to making this decision. Our results have implications for understanding how people make major life decisions such as marriage, as well as the cost of migration.

Keywords: decision-making costs; relocation; migration; marriage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 57 pages
Date: 2018-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mig and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published online in: JHR Journal of Human Resources , 13 May 2021

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Journal Article: Making Big Decisions: The Impact of Moves on Marriage among U.S. Army Personnel (2023)
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