IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v13y2024i11p612-d1519339.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Divorce Cooling-Off Period on Registered Divorces: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Wenge Zheng

    (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China)

  • Bowen Niu

    (Institute of Law, Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing 210004, China)

  • Zhenguo Chen

    (College of Civil Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 611730, China)

Abstract

The divorce rate in China has continued to rise since the 21st century. In order to reduce impulsive divorces, the divorce cooling-off period (DCOP) system was established in the Civil Code of China. The aim of this research is to examine the impact of the DCOP on registered divorces. Data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, National Bureau of Statistics, civil affairs departments, and statistical bureaus of 31 provinces, the 2018 to 2023 editions of the China Statistical Yearbook , and the China Civil Affairs Statistical Yearbook were utilized in this work. The event study analysis reveals that the number of registered divorces decreased significantly in China after the DCOP provision’s enforcement. The ordinary least squares model indicates an average annual decrease of about 2.6 million registered divorces when the DCOP provision takes effect, and the DCOP plays a decisive role in this decrease, which suggests that the DCOP system has achieved its original intention. This research not only highlights the important role of the DCOP in reducing registered divorces but also provides insights on how to improve the DCOP system and promote the stability of marriage.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenge Zheng & Bowen Niu & Zhenguo Chen, 2024. "The Impact of Divorce Cooling-Off Period on Registered Divorces: Evidence from China," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:13:y:2024:i:11:p:612-:d:1519339
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/11/612/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/13/11/612/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Becker, Gary S & Landes, Elisabeth M & Michael, Robert T, 1977. "An Economic Analysis of Marital Instability," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 85(6), pages 1141-1187, December.
    2. Dainn Wie & Hyoungjong Kim, 2015. "Between Calm and Passion: The Cooling-Off Period and Divorce Decisions in Korea," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 187-214, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michelle Sheran Sylvester, 2007. "The Career and Family Choices of Women: A Dynamic Analysis of Labor Force Participation, Schooling, Marriage and Fertility Decisions," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 10(3), pages 367-399, July.
    2. Gordon Dahl, 2010. "Early teen marriage and future poverty," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 47(3), pages 689-718, August.
    3. Guven, Cahit & Senik, Claudia & Stichnoth, Holger, 2012. "You can’t be happier than your wife. Happiness gaps and divorce," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 110-130.
    4. Rania Gihleb & Osnat Lifshitz, 2022. "Dynamic Effects of Educational Assortative Mating on Labor Supply," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 46, pages 302-327, October.
    5. Adsera, Alicia, 2005. "Differences in Desired and Actual Fertility: An Economic Analysis of the Spanish Case," IZA Discussion Papers 1584, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Lazear, Edward P, 1999. "Globalisation and the Market for Team-Mates," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(454), pages 15-40, March.
    7. Rebecca Kippen & Bruce Chapman & Peng Yu, 2010. "What's love got to do with it? Homogamy and dyadic approaches to understanding marital instability," CEPR Discussion Papers 631, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    8. Bellido, Héctor & Molina, José Alberto & Solaz, Anne & Stancanelli, Elena, 2016. "Do children of the first marriage deter divorce?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 15-31.
    9. Lorenzo Todesco, 2011. "A Matter of Number, Age or Marriage? Children and Marital Dissolution in Italy," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(2), pages 313-332, April.
    10. Helmut Rainer & Ian Smith, 2010. "Staying together for the sake of the home?: house price shocks and partnership dissolution in the UK," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 173(3), pages 557-574, July.
    11. Davi B. Costa, 2021. "Benefits of marriage as a search strategy," Papers 2108.04885, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2021.
    12. Christina A. Houseworth & Barry R. Chiswick, 2020. "Divorce among European and Mexican Immigrants in the U.S," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 1-25, March.
    13. González, Libertad & Viitanen, Tarja K., 2009. "The effect of divorce laws on divorce rates in Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 127-138, February.
    14. Héctor Bellido & Miriam Marcén, 2019. "Fertility and the business cycle: the European case," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1289-1319, December.
    15. Daniele Vignoli & Anna Matysiak & Marta Styrc & Valentina Tocchioni, 2018. "The positive impact of women’s employment on divorce: Context, selection, or anticipation?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(37), pages 1059-1110.
    16. Oleksandr Zhylyevskyy, 2012. "Spousal Conflict and Divorce," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(4), pages 915-962.
    17. Lehrer, Evelyn L, 1996. "Religion as a Determinant of Marital Fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 9(2), pages 173-196, May.
    18. Rashid Javed & Mazhar Mughal, 2020. "Girls Not Brides: Evolution of Child Marriage in Pakistan," Working Papers hal-03038355, HAL.
    19. Jeremy Arkes & Yu-Chu Shen, 2014. "For Better Or For Worse, But How About A Recession?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 32(2), pages 275-287, April.
    20. Alicia Adsera, 2006. "An Economic Analysis of the Gap Between Desired and Actual Fertility: The Case of Spain," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 75-95, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:13:y:2024:i:11:p:612-:d:1519339. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.