This paper structurally estimates an equilibrium model of the marriage market using data from the British Cohort Study. The results suggest that both search frictions and selective behaviour determine who marries whom and when, and that education is the most important determinant of an individual’s attractiveness. Simulations of the model, however, only replicate a fraction of the correlations of partners’ characteristics observed in the data, leading us to question some assumptions commonly made in the literature. Simulations also suggest that increased participation in education may have contributed to increased sorting into partnerships.
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Gary S. Becker, 1974.
"A Theory of Marriage: Part II,"
NBER Chapters,
in: Marriage, Family, Human Capital, and Fertility, pages 11-26
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
[Downloadable!]
Machin, Stephen & Pelkonen, Panu & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2008.
"Education and Mobility,"
IZA Discussion Papers
3845, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
[Downloadable!]
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Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)
Gautier, Pieter A & Svarer, Michael & Teulings, Coen N, 2005.
"Marriage and the City,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
4939, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Pieter Gautier & Michael Svarer & Coen Teulings, 2005.
"Marriage and the City,"
CAM Working Papers
2005-01, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Centre for Applied Microeconometrics.
[Downloadable!]
Gautier, Pieter A. & Svarer, Michael & Teulings, Coen N., 2005.
"Marriage and the City,"
IZA Discussion Papers
1491, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
[Downloadable!]