Plant Closure and Marital Dissolution
Working paper
Åpne
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http://hdl.handle.net/11250/180353Utgivelsesdato
2007Metadata
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- Discussion Papers [1002]
Sammendrag
Abstract:
We estimate the effect of plant closure on divorce using a panel data set comprising more than
80,000 married couples in Norway. Plant closure substantially increases the likelihood of marital
dissolution of workers in affected plants. The marriages of husbands originally employed in plants
that closed between 1995 and 2000 were 11 percent more likely to be dissolved by 2003 than
comparable marriages of husbands in stable plants. Additional analyses suggest that the effect of
plant closure on divorce is not due to unexpected reduction in earnings. The results are, however,
consistent with role theories, in which the husband’s attractiveness declines if he fails to fulfill a
traditional role as a breadwinner.
Keywords: marital dissolution, divorce, new information, shock, plant closure, plant downsizing,
displacement