We study how Americans respond to idiosyncratic and exogenous changes in household
wealth and unearned income. Our analyses combine administrative data on US lottery …

We document the individualization of wealth in France between 1998 and 2015, using
precise survey data on the property titles of assets. It is characterized by an increase in the …

Marriage rates have become increasingly stratified by homeownership. We investigate this
in a household model where investments in public goods reduce future earnings and, thus …

An institutional perspective emphasizes the fact that behavior is shaped by rules that
humans superimpose on their economic environment. In the context of the family, such rules …

In many countries, divorce law mandates post-marital maintenance payments (child support
and alimony) to insure the lower earner in married couples against financial losses upon …

Relationships have changed dramatically in the last 50 years. Fewer couples are marrying,
more are cohabiting. Reasons for this shift include more attractive labor market opportunities …

As households have become increasingly financialized, family scholars have considered the
consequences of assets, credit, and debt for family dynamics. Previous studies that focused …

We show how the legal settings of unmarried cohabitation affect partners' labor market
outcomes. In Canada, cohabiting couples are automatically entitled to certain rights after a …

Abstract Families produce people. This presents a problem for autocratic regimes. On the
one hand, familial production benefits the autocrat by augmenting the future productivity of …

In this paper, I analyze the determinants of cohabitation, marriage, and divorce in the USA. I
first document that college graduates are more likely to marry, and less likely to cohabit and …