In this paper we study the effects of abusive behavior on the labor force and marital status decisions of women. Using a unique Canadian data set on domestic violence, we estimate the effects of abuse on the marital history as well as current employment using a sequential, multi-state model. In our model, spousal abuse affects labor supply through decreases in utility from leisure as well as through reductions in productivity at work and hence the market wage. In addition, abuse is treated as an initially unobserved spousal characteristic that plays a role in the divorce decision, which in turn influences labor supply. Our analysis reveals three main findings. First, the effects of domestic abuse on employment differ across marital histories. Employment is decreasing in the presence of abuse in current and past marriages for married and divorced women, respectively, consistent with a health effect on the wage. In contrast, remarried women are more likely to work if abused in the current, but not the past, marriage. Second, domestic abuse is a dominant factor in the divorce decision, which in turn is a major determinant of employment. Finally, standard economic information such as age and education plays a minor role in the divorce decision relative to the abuse-related information.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Length: Date of creation: 1998 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:uwo:uwowop:9801
Contact details of provider: Postal: Department of Economics, Reference Centre, Social Science Centre, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C2 Phone: 519-661-2111 Ext.85228 Web page: http://economics.uwo.ca/econref/WorkingPapers/
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().
Related research
Keywords:
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.:
Tauchen, Helen V & Witte, Ann Dryden & Long, Sharon K, 1991.
"Domestic Violence: A Nonrandom Affair,"
International Economic Review,
Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 32(2), pages 491-511, May.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Killingsworth, Mark R. & Heckman, James J., 1987.
"Female labor supply: A survey,"
Handbook of Labor Economics,
in: O. Ashenfelter & R. Layard (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 103-204
Elsevier.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)