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The Distribution of Returns to Marriage

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Author Info
Maasoumi, Esfandiar () (SMU)
Millimet, Daniel () (SMU)
Sarkar, Dipanwita () (SMU)

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Abstract

The phenomenon that married men earn a higher wage on average than unmarried men, the so-called marriage premium, is rather well established. However, the robustness of the marriage premium across the wage distribution and the underlying cause of the marriage premium are not well known. Focusing on the entire wage distribution and employing recently developed nonparametric tests for stochastic dominance, our findings question the current conception of the marriage premium, calling instead for the introduction of a broader concept incorporating wage dispersion. This broader notion arises from evidence suggesting that the marriage premium is primarily confined to the lower tail of the wage distribution; the premium is negligible at best in the upper tail. Finally, the majority of the premium is explained by selection, but there is a small role for ‘causal’ explanations.Length: 54 pages

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics in its series Departmental Working Papers with number 0503.

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Length:
Date of creation: Oct 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:smu:ecowpa:0503

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Department of Economics, P.O. Box 750496, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275-0496
Phone: 214-768-2715
Fax: 214-768-1821
Web page: http://www.smu.edu/economics

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Bo Chen).

Related research
Keywords: Marriage premium; stochastic dominance; difference-in-differences; instrumental variable; nonparametric; selection;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods
C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data
D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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References listed on IDEAS
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.:
  1. Abadie A., 2002. "Bootstrap Tests for Distributional Treatment Effects in Instrumental Variable Models," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 97, pages 284-292, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. repec:cup:etheor:v:10:y:1994:i:5:p:849-66 is not listed on IDEAS
  4. Cornwell, Christopher & Rupert, Peter, 1997. "Unobservable Individual Effects, Marriage and the Earnings of Young Men," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 285-94, April.
  5. Esfandiar Maasoumi & Almas Heshmati, 2000. "Stochastic dominance amongst swedish income distributions," Econometric Reviews, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 287-320. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Maasoumi, Esfandiar, 1986. "The Measurement and Decomposition of Multi-dimensional Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(4), pages 991-97, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Joni Hersch, 1991. "Male-female differences in hourly wages: The role of human capital, working conditions, and housework," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 44(4), pages 746-759, July.
  8. Daniel L. Millimet & Esfandiar Maasoumi, 2005. "Robust inference concerning recent trends in US environmental quality," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(1), pages 55-77. [Downloadable!]
  9. Joni Hersch & Leslie S. Stratton, 2000. "Household specialization and the male marriage wage premium," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 54(1), pages 78-94, October.
  10. David Neumark & Daiji Kawaguchi, 2001. "Attrition Bias in Economic Relationships Estimated with Matched CPS Files," NBER Working Papers 8663, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Oliver Linton & Esfandiar Maasoumi & Whang, Yoon-Jae, 2002. "Consistent Testing for Stochastic Dominance: A Subsampling Approach," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1356, Cowles Foundation, Yale University, revised Mar 2002. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Anderson, Gordon, 1996. "Nonparametric Tests of Stochastic Dominance in Income Distributions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(5), pages 1183-93, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Amin, S. & Rai, A.S. & Topa, G., 1999. "Does Microcredit Reach the Poor and Vulnerable? Evidence from Northern Bangldesh," Working Papers 99-06, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Kaur, Amarjot & Prakasa Rao, B.L.S. & Singh, Harshinder, 1994. "Testing for Second-Order Stochastic Dominance of Two Distributions," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(05), pages 849-866, December. [Downloadable!]
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    Other versions:
  16. Heckman, James J & Ichimura, Hidehiko & Todd, Petra, 1998. "Matching as an Econometric Evaluation Estimator," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 65(2), pages 261-94, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Bratberg, Espen & Grasdal, Astrid & Risa, Alf Erling, 2002. " Evaluating Social Policy by Experimental and Nonexperimental Methods," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 104(1), pages 147-71. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Maasoumi, Esfandiar, 2001. "On the relevance of first-order asymptotic theory to economics," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 83-86, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Chun, Hyunbae & Lee, Injae, 2001. "Why Do Married Men Earn More: Productivity or Marriage Selection?," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 39(2), pages 307-19, April.
  20. Dr. Peter Kenning & Hilke Plassmann, 2004. "NeuroEconomics," Experimental 0412005, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  21. Harry A. Krashinsky, 2004. "Do Marital Status and Computer Usage Really Change the Wage Structure?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(3). [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

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.)

  1. Katherin Barg & Miriam Beblo, 2008. "Does Marriage Pay More than Cohabitation?: Selection and Specialization Effects on Male Wages in Germany," SOEPpapers 82, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
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