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Working late: Do Workplace Sex Ratios Affect Partnership Formation and Dissolution?

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  • Michael Svarer

    (School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus, Denmark)

Abstract

In this paper, I analyse the association between workplace sex ratios and partnership formation and dissolution. I find that the risk of dissolution increases with the fraction of coworkers of the opposite sex at both the female and male workplace. On the other hand, workplace sex ratios are not important for the overall transition rate from singlehood to partnership. The results suggest that the workplace constitutes a more important marriage market segment for individuals who are already in a partnership presumably due to higher search cost for (alternative) partners in general.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Svarer, 2006. "Working late: Do Workplace Sex Ratios Affect Partnership Formation and Dissolution?," Economics Working Papers 2006-09, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    • Handle: RePEc:aah:aarhec:2006-09
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Holm, Mathilde Lund & Fallesen, Peter & Heinesen, Eskil, 2023. "The effects of parental union dissolution on children’s test scores," SocArXiv p2qgk, Center for Open Science.
    2. Alena Bicakova & Stepan Jurajda, 2014. "The Quiet Revolution and the Family: Gender Composition of Tertiary Education and Early Fertility Patterns," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp504, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    3. Alena Bičáková & Štěpán Jurajda, 2017. "Gender composition of college graduates by field of study and early fertility," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1323-1343, December.
    4. Kieron James Barclay, 2013. "Sex ratios at sexual maturity and longevity," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(31), pages 837-864.
    5. Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf & Frimmel, Wolfgang & Halla, Martin, 2016. "How Does Parental Divorce Affect Children's Long-term Outcomes?," CEPR Discussion Papers 11339, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Kuroki, Masanori, 2013. "Opposite-sex coworkers and marital infidelity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 71-73.
    7. Jurajda, Å tÄ›pán & BiÄ Ã¡ková, Alena, 2016. "Field-of-Study Homogamy," CEPR Discussion Papers 11177, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Helena Skyt Nielsen & Michael Svarer, 2009. "Educational Homogamy: How Much is Opportunities?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(4).
    9. Michael Svarer, 2011. "Crime and partnerships," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 307-325, September.
    10. Rune V. Lesner, 2018. "The long-term effect of childhood poverty," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 969-1004, July.
    11. Mansour, Hani & McKinnish, Terra, 2014. "Same-Occupation Spouses: Preferences and Search Costs," IZA Discussion Papers 8370, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Scott Drewianka & Martin E. Meder, 2020. "Simultaneity and selection in financial hardship and divorce," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1245-1265, December.
    13. Diederik Boertien & Juho Härkönen, 2018. "Why does women’s education stabilize marriages? The role of marital attraction and barriers to divorce," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(41), pages 1241-1276.
    14. Hani Mansour & Terra McKinnish, 2018. "Same-occupation spouses: preferences or search costs?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1005-1033, October.
    15. Henry R. Hyatt, 2015. "Co-Working Couples and the Similar Jobs of Dual-Earner Households," Working Papers 15-23, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    16. Henry R. Hyatt, 2015. "Co-Working Couples and the Similar Jobs of Dual-Earner Households," Working Papers 15-23r, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Partnership formation; dissolution; workplace sex ratios;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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