IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jfamec/v27y2006i4p675-691.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Household Debt and Marital Instability: Evidence from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study

Author

Listed:
  • Yunhee Chang
  • Ki Lee

Abstract

Korean society has recently experienced rapid increases in household debt and divorce rates. This study investigates whether household debt and debt ratios lower marital stability and increase the probability of divorce among Korean families. Six-year panels from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) household surveys were used for analysis. The effect of household debt upon the probability of divorce was estimated through pooled and population-averaged Logit models. The results suggest that household financial strain measured by the amount of household debt and the debt-to-income ratios does not significantly affect the probability of divorce. This finding contradicts the widespread notion that households’ excessive borrowing has been partially responsible for the recent increase in divorce rates in Korea. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Yunhee Chang & Ki Lee, 2006. "Household Debt and Marital Instability: Evidence from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 675-691, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:27:y:2006:i:4:p:675-691
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-006-9039-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10834-006-9039-2
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10834-006-9039-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luis Cubeddu & José-Víctor Ríos-Rull, 1997. "Marital risk and capital accumulation," Staff Report 235, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    2. Weiss, Yoram, 1997. "The formation and dissolution of families: Why marry? Who marries whom? And what happens upon divorce," Handbook of Population and Family Economics, in: M. R. Rosenzweig & Stark, O. (ed.), Handbook of Population and Family Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 3, pages 81-123, Elsevier.
    3. Grossbard,Shoshana A. (ed.), 2003. "Marriage and the Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521814546, January.
    4. Weiss, Yoram & Willis, Robert J, 1997. "Match Quality, New Information, and Marital Dissolution," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 293-329, January.
    5. Brenner, R & Dagenais, Marcel G & Montmarquette, C, 1994. "An Overlooked Explanation of the Declining Saving Rate," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 629-637.
    6. Johnson, William R & Skinner, Jonathan, 1986. "Labor Supply and Marital Separation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(3), pages 455-469, June.
    7. Gianni La Cava & John Simon, 2003. "A Tale of Two Surveys: Household Debt and Financial Constraints in Australia," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2003-08, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    8. Chiswick, Carmel U & Lehrer, Evelyn L, 1990. "On Marriage-Specific Human Capital: Its Role as a Determinant of Remarriage," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 3(3), pages 193-213, October.
    9. 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.
    10. Becker, Gary S, 1973. "A Theory of Marriage: Part I," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(4), pages 813-846, July-Aug..
    11. Grossbard,Shoshana A. (ed.), 2003. "Marriage and the Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521891431, January.
    12. Elizabeth Monk-Turner & Charlie Turner, 2001. "Sex Differentials in Earnings in the South Korean Labor Market," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 63-78.
    13. Jonathan Fisher & Angela Lyons, 2006. "Till Debt do us Part: A Model of Divorce and Personal Bankruptcy," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 35-52, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aydogan Ulker, 2009. "Wealth Holdings and Portfolio Allocation of the Elderly: The Role of Marital History," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 90-108, March.
    2. Deborah Thorne, 2010. "Extreme Financial Strain: Emergent Chores, Gender Inequality and Emotional Distress," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 185-197, June.
    3. Yilin Guo & Cheng Zhang & Cheng Tang, 2024. "Does Debt Affect Divorce? Evidence from China," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 836-851, December.
    4. Jeffrey Dew, 2011. "The Association Between Consumer Debt and the Likelihood of Divorce," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 554-565, December.

    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. Libertad González & Berkay Özcan, 2013. "The Risk of Divorce and Household Saving Behavior," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(2), pages 404-434.
    2. Stéphane Mechoulan, 2006. "Divorce Laws and the Structure of the American Family," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 143-174, January.
    3. Kerwin Kofi Charles & Melvin Stephens, 2004. "Job Displacement, Disability, and Divorce," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(2), pages 489-522, April.
    4. Filippo Pericoli & Luigi Ventura, 2012. "Family dissolution and precautionary savings: an empirical analysis," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 573-595, December.
    5. Daniel Avdic & Arizo Karimi, 2018. "Modern Family? Paternity Leave and Marital Stability," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 283-307, October.
    6. Lehrer, Evelyn L. & Son, Yeon Jeong, 2017. "Marital Instability in the United States: Trends, Driving Forces, and Implications for Children," IZA Discussion Papers 10503, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Miriam Beblo & Anne Solaz, 2015. "New spouse, same chores? A panel analysis of marital specialization in consecutive unions," Working Papers 217, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED).
    8. Evelyn Lehrer & Yeon-jeong Son, 2017. "Women’s age at first marriage and marital instability in the United States: Differences by race and ethnicity," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(9), pages 229-250.
    9. Grossbard-Shechtman, Shoshana, 2003. "A consumer theory with competitive markets for work in marriage," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 609-645.
    10. Kraft, Kornelius & Neimann, Stefanie, 2009. "Impact of Educational and Religious Homogamy on Marital Stability," IZA Discussion Papers 4491, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. John Douglas Skåtun, 2017. "Bargaining on your Spouse: Coasean and Non-Coasean Behaviour Within Marriage," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 263-278, June.
    12. Miriam Beblo & Anne Solaz, 2018. "New spouse, same chores? The division of household labor in consecutive unions," Post-Print hal-01892938, HAL.
    13. Evelyn Lehrer & Yu Chen, 2013. "Delayed entry into first marriage and marital stability," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(20), pages 521-542.
    14. Lehrer, Evelyn L., 2009. "Religion, Human Capital Investments and the Family in the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 4279, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. John M. Nunley & Alan Seals, 2010. "The Effects of Household Income Volatility on Divorce," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 983-1010, July.
    16. 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.
    17. Bertocchi, Graziella & Brunetti, Marianna & Torricelli, Costanza, 2014. "Who holds the purse strings within the household? The determinants of intra-family decision making," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 65-86.
    18. 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.
    19. Martin Halla & Johann Scharler, 2012. "Marriage, Divorce, and Interstate Risk Sharing," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 114(1), pages 55-78, March.
    20. Delia Furtado & Miriam Marcén & Almudena Sevilla, 2013. "Does Culture Affect Divorce? Evidence From European Immigrants in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(3), pages 1013-1038, June.

    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:kap:jfamec:v:27:y:2006:i:4:p:675-691. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.