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Changes in divorce patterns: Culture and the law

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  • Hiller, Victor
  • Recoules, Magali

Abstract

This article focuses on the mutual interplay between changes in divorce rates, divorce laws and cultural acceptance of divorce. The latter differs among individuals and evolves endogenously via cultural transmission mechanisms in which children's preferences are partly shaped by divorce decisions of their parents. In turn, divorce law is chosen by majority voting. The dynamics of the economy may exhibit multiple long-run equilibria. Economic shocks can destabilize the low-divorce equilibrium: through cultural evolutions, divorce rates increase and divorce law may be modified. In compliance with stylized facts, the results show that legal changes occurred after that divorce rates had started to rise.

Suggested Citation

  • Hiller, Victor & Recoules, Magali, 2013. "Changes in divorce patterns: Culture and the law," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 77-87.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:34:y:2013:i:c:p:77-87
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irle.2013.01.002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Siwan Anderson & Chris Bidner, 2021. "An Institutional Perspective on the Economics of the Family," Discussion Papers dp21-14, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    3. Jiaping Zhang & Mingwang Cheng & Xinyu Wei & Xiaomei Gong, 2018. "Does Mobile Phone Penetration Affect Divorce Rate? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    4. Chiara Berneri & Shaun Larcom & Congmin Peng & Po-Wen She, 2024. "The impact of law on moral and social norms: evidence from facemask fines in the UK," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 311-346, June.
    5. Korhonen Marko & Puhakka Mikko, 2021. "The Behavior of Divorce Rates: A Smooth Transition Regression Approach," Journal of Time Series Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, January.

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