Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7884

Title: Marriage penalties, marriage, and cohabitation
Authors: Fisher, Hayley
School of Economics
Keywords: marriage
cohabitation
marriage penalty
Issue Date: Sep-2011
Publisher: School of Economics
Series/Report no.: 2011-12
Abstract: I examine the effect of marriage penalties in the US income tax system on marital status. I construct a simulated instrument that exploits variation in the tax code over time and between US states to deal with potential endogeneity between the marriage penalty a couple faces and their marital status. I find that a $1000 increase in the marriage penalty faced reduces the probability of marriage by 1.7 percentage points, an effect four times larger than previously estimated. Those in the lowest education groups respond by as much as 2.7 percentage points, with the average response declining as education increases.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/7884
Department/Unit/Centre: School of Economics
Type of Work: Working Paper
Appears in Collections:Working Papers - Economics

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