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Is Marriage Poisonous? Are Relationships Taxing? An Analysis of the Male Marital Wage Differential in Denmark

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  • Nabanita Datta Gupta
  • Nina Smith
  • Leslie S. Stratton

Abstract

Differences in the pattern of marriage, cohabitation, childbirth, and intrahousehold specialization between the United States and Denmark, as well as a rich, register‐based panel sample of about 35,000 young Danish men, are exploited to shed light on the nature of the male marital wage differential. The results indicate that failing to control for cohabitation can seriously bias estimates of the marital wage differential, that marriage is a more selective state than cohabitation, and that specialization may explain some of the marital wage differential in the United States but not in Denmark. In Denmark, by contrast, there is evidence that fatherhood has a significant impact on earnings.

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  • Nabanita Datta Gupta & Nina Smith & Leslie S. Stratton, 2007. "Is Marriage Poisonous? Are Relationships Taxing? An Analysis of the Male Marital Wage Differential in Denmark," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(2), pages 412-433, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:74:y:2007:i:2:p:412-433
    DOI: 10.1002/j.2325-8012.2007.tb00846.x
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    1. Petersen, Trond & Penner, Andrew & Hogsnes, Geir, 2006. "The Male Marital Wage Premium: Sorting Versus Differential Pay," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt2053f73v, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    2. Nina Smith & Valdemar Smith & Mette Verne, 2011. "The gender pay gap in top corporate jobs in Denmark," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(2), pages 156-177, May.
    3. Averett, Susan L. & Sikora, Asia & Argys, Laura M., 2008. "For better or worse: Relationship status and body mass index," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 330-349, December.
    4. Rodgers III, William M. & Stratton, Leslie S., 2005. "The Male Marital Wage Differential: Race, Training, and Fixed Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 1745, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Cornaglia, Francesca & Feldman, Naomi E., 2011. "Productivity, Wages, and Marriage: The Case of Major League Baseball," IZA Discussion Papers 5695, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Blain Pearson & Thomas Korankye & Hossein Salehi, 2023. "Comparative Advantage in the Household: Should One Person Specialize in a Household’s Financial Matters?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 114-124, March.
    7. Petersen, Trond & Penner, Andrew & Høgnes, Geir, 2012. "From Motherhood Penalties to Husband Premia: The New Challenge for Gender Equality and Family Policy, Lessons from Norway," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt60p7c2pg, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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