Marriage and Economy

Author: Susanna Grossbard Shetterly, Editor
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: Since ancient times, just like commercial and government economics, household economics has always demanded time and effort, even more so. However, it was only in the past few years that household economics has become an important field of exploration in economics. The editors of this book, Susanna Grossbard Shetterly, and the authors of each chapter have been at the forefront of this emerging research movement. Here, their research shows us how economic analysis tools are introduced into the practical and non-practical complexities people seek in marriage, and how they are applied to analyze and examine the effectiveness and fairness of the consequences for actual or potential couples in dealing with the monetary economy outside the marriage and the non-monetary economy within the marriage. — Jack Hirshleifer, University of California, Los Angeles
When a couple decides to get married, they may not think much about economics. However, their decisions will have a significant impact on their personal finances through household consumption and investment. Subsequent decisions, such as having children or ending a marriage, will also have huge economic implications. When all families are combined, they can affect and shake major macroeconomic variables, even economic policies. Through policies that encourage marriage, macroeconomics may benefit from couples getting married rather than divorcing. This book provides 14 excellent articles by many distinguished economists, and the renowned scholar Jacob Mincer has also provided a detailed introduction. In this interesting and rapidly growing field of research, they have explored many aspects in depth. — Cliff Granger, University of California, San Diego
Marriage and the Economy represents recent research by second and third-generation family economics analysts. It is urgent and timely to focus on the determinants and consequences of marriage, especially from a historical perspective, as we have moved from large families to nuclear families and now to subatomic families (single-parent or single-household families). It is believed that readers will greatly benefit from the rich and insightful research in this book. — Excerpted from Jacob Mincer’s foreword at Columbia University
Western values and legal regulations have been very successful in changing the way the economy operates in the world, but their role in maintaining individuals’ commitment to family values is not deeply rooted. For analytical tools that have achieved fruitful results in other fields—logical tools, reasoning, and an understanding of market forces—using them to explore family values is worth a try. Marriage and the Economy explores how marriage affects the monetary economy and household economy, which refers to the value of all goods produced within the family. The marriage system is to the household economy what the economic system is to the monetary economy; marriage status is closely tied to household economy. Additionally, marriage also affects the economy through its impact on labor supply, workers’ productivity, savings, consumption, and government programs such as welfare and social security. The macroeconomic analysis provided in this book is built upon the microeconomic foundations of cost/benefit analysis, game theory, and market analysis. Many experts in various fields of economics have conducted microeconomic analyses of marriage, divorce, and marital behavior.