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The Risk of Divorce and Household Saving Behavior

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  • Libertad González
  • Berkay Özcan

Abstract

We analyze the causal impact of an increase in the risk of marital dissolution on the saving behavior of married couples. We use the legalization of divorce in Ireland in 1996 as an exogenous shock to the risk of divorce. We propose several comparison groups (unaffected by the law change) that allow us to use a difference-in-differences approach. Our findings suggest that the legalization of divorce led to a significant increase in the propensity to save by married individuals, which is consistent with individuals saving more as a response to the increase in the probability of marital breakup.

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:48:y:2013:ii:1:p:404-434
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    1. Bargain, Olivier & González, Libertad & Keane, Claire & Özcan, Berkay, 2012. "Female labor supply and divorce: New evidence from Ireland," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1675-1691.
    2. Marie Boltz & Isabelle Chort, 2019. "The Risk of Polygamy and Wives’ Saving Behavior," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 209-230.
    3. Tanvi Kiran & Shivam Dhawan, 2015. "The Impact of Family Size on Savings and Consumption Expenditure of Industrial Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 7(4), pages 177-184, November.
    4. Alessandra Voena, 2015. "Yours, Mine, and Ours: Do Divorce Laws Affect the Intertemporal Behavior of Married Couples?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(8), pages 2295-2332, August.
    5. Angelini, Viola & Bertoni, Marco & Stella, Luca & Weiss, Christoph T., 2019. "The ant or the grasshopper? The long-term consequences of Unilateral Divorce Laws on savings of European households," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 97-113.
    6. Jennifer Roff, 2017. "Cleaning in the Shadow of the Law? Bargaining, Marital Investment, and the Impact of Divorce Law on Husbands' Intrahousehold Work," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(1), pages 115-134.
    7. World Bank, 2013. "Montenegro Gender Diagnostic," World Bank Publications - Reports 21827, The World Bank Group.
    8. González, Libertad & Viitanen, Tarja, 2008. "The Long Term Effects of Legalizing Divorce on Children," IZA Discussion Papers 3789, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Yazeed Abdul Mumin & Abubakari Razak & Paul Bata Domanban, 2013. "Analysis of Household Heads? Decision-To-Save with Financial Institutions in Ghana," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(11), pages 1466-1478, November.
    10. Marcel Fischer & Natalia Khorunzhina, 2019. "Housing Decision With Divorce Risk," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1263-1290, August.
    11. Helmuth Cremer & Pierre Pestieau & Kerstin Roeder, 2015. "United but (un)equal: human capital, probability of divorce, and the marriage contract," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(1), pages 195-217, January.
    12. Susanta Kumar SETHY & Phanindra GOYARI, 2022. "Measuring financial inclusion and its present status in South Asian countries. Evidence from a multidimensional Financial Inclusion Index," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania - AGER, vol. 0(3(632), A), pages 131-150, Autumn.
    13. 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.
    14. Ortigueira, Salvador & Siassi, Nawid, 2013. "How important is intra-household risk sharing for savings and labor supply?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(6), pages 650-666.
    15. Sylwia Pieńkowska-Kamieniecka & Damian Walczak & Anna Bera, 2019. "Income and Social Determinants of Old-Age Savings: Evidence from Poland," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Richtmann Publishing Ltd, vol. 8, November.
    16. Adriana Helena Cruz León & José Carlos Trejo García & Humberto Ríos Bolívar, 2019. "Desarrollo de un modelo logit para examinar el comportamiento del ahorro en la región centro de México, de acuerdo al perfil de los hogares," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 14(1), pages 57-77, Enero-Mar.
    17. Hans Fehr & Manuel Kallweit & Fabian Kindermann, 2009. "Marital Risk, Family Insurance, and Public Policy," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 226, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    18. Kristijan Kotarski & Luka Brkic, 2017. "Political Economy of Banking and Debt Crisis in the EU: Rising Financialization and its Ramifications," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 49(3), pages 430-455, September.
    19. Marianna Schaubert, 2023. "Do Alimony Regulations Matter Inside Marriage? Evidence from the 2008 Reform of the German Maintenance Law," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 145-178, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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