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How 'Chicagoan' are Gary Becker's Economic Models of Marriage?

Shoshana Amyra Grossbard
San Diego State University - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research)

May 2009

CESifo Working Paper Series No. 2637

Abstract:
This paper describes Gary Becker's theoretical models of marriage. At the micro-level, these are all rational choice models. At the market level, Becker offers two major types of models: partial equilibrium models based on Price Theory as taught by Marshall and Friedman and optimal sorting models based on optimal assignment models. The paper examines some of the possible intellectual influences on Becker's theory of marriage, compares Becker's research on marriage with that of some scholars interested in intra-marriage distribution, and documents that Becker's students at Chicago were more interested in Becker's Friedmanian models of marriage than in his optimal assignment models.

JEL Classifications: J12

Working Paper Series

Date posted: May 07, 2009 ; Last revised: June 23, 2009

Suggested Citation

Grossbard, Shoshana Amyra, How 'Chicagoan' are Gary Becker's Economic Models of Marriage? (May 2009). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 2637. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1400633

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Contact Information

Shoshana Grossbard (Contact Author) San Diego State University - Department of Economics ( email ) 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego, CA 92182 United States
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) P.O. Box 7240 D-53072 Bonn Germany
CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research) Poschinger Str. 5 DE-81679 Munich Germany

Abstract

Date posted: May 07, 2009 ; Last revised: June 23, 2009

Suggested Citation

Contact Information

Shoshana Grossbard (Contact Author)