Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/34858 
Year of Publication: 
2007
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3245
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Little is known about why cohabiting couples have fewer children than married couples. We explore the factors that explain the difference in fertility between these two groups using a switching regression analysis, which enables us to quantify the contribution of different factors through a decomposition of the difference. We find that married couples have more children than cohabiting couples primarily because marriage provides stronger incentives for specialization in household production. Unobserved self-selection plays a less important role.
Subjects: 
Fertility
marriage
cohabitation
switching regression
self-selection
household specialization
JEL: 
J12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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