The economic value of virtue

Fabio Mariani ()

Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne from Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne

Abstract: We model virtue as an asset on the marriage market: since men value virginity in prospective mates, preserving their virtue increases girls' chances of getting a "good" husband, and therefore allows for upward social mobility. Consistent with some historical and anthropological evidence, we find that the diffusion (and the social value) of virginity, across societies and over time, can be determined, among others, by income inequality, gender differences, social stratification and overall economic development. This is a further example of how cultural and moral values can be affected by economic factors

Keywords: Mating; marriage; cultural values; social classes; inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 D31 J12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 17 pages
Date: 2008-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul and nep-soc
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Downloads: (external link)
ftp://mse.univ-paris1.fr/pub/mse/CES2008/V08101.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The economic value of virtue (2012)
Working Paper: The economic value of virtue (2010)
Working Paper: The Economic Value of Virtue (2010)
Working Paper: The economic value of virtue (2008)
Working Paper: The economic value of virtue (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mse:cesdoc:v08101

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