Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/89804 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 7769
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Time preferences can affect divorce probability both affecting the quality of the match and affecting the spouses' reactions to negative shocks. We analyze the relationship between time preferences and divorce decisions using data from the Italian Survey on Household Income and Wealth, which provides a measure of time preferences based on a hypothetical financial situation in which individuals have to decide how much money to give up in order to receive a certain amount of money today instead of in one year's time. Controlling for a number of individual and family characteristics, we find that an increase in impatience of one standard deviation increases the probability of experiencing divorce by almost one percentage point. Our results are not affected by reverse causality problems and are robust when controlling for individual risk attitudes. We also find that more risk averse individuals are less likely to experience divorce.
Subjects: 
divorce
time preferences
impatience
risk aversion
JEL: 
I20
D03
D91
J01
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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