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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10066/1463

Title: Stuck for Life: A Firm-Specific Human Capital Explanation of the Male Marraige [i.e., Marriage] Premium
Author(s): Sacks, Dan
Advisor(s): Preston, Anne
Department: Haverford College. Dept. of Economics
Honors: 2008 Department of Economics Prize Winning Thesis
Abstract: I argue that household specialization and investment in firm-specific human capital explain the male marriage premium. First I develop a model of human capital in which to-be-married men invest in human capital over two rounds. The promise of high returns to the second round of investment encourages firms to offer high wages before the first round, so that wages not change upon marriage. The model has two other predictions, that among the self-employed wages should increase upon marriage, and that the cross-sectional marriage premium should have declined over time. Using the Panel Study on Income Dynamics and the 2000 US Census, I find evidence in support of each of these predictions. Evidence from the self-employed suggests that marriage increases productivity by 20%, via the increased accumulation of human capital.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10066/1463
Appears in Collections:Economics

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