Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/196648 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12150
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Administrative divorce is an optional divorce procedure which allows couples to bypass the court system and dissolve their marriages in a streamlined, uncontested process. The lack of court involvement renders the administrative divorce faster and less expensive than the conventional divorce. In this paper, I investigate whether the administrative divorce option affected the stability of marriages in the Netherlands. Leveraging the ban of the procedure in 2009, I show that the divorce risks were 11.6% higher under the legal regime which allowed for administrative divorce. This effect is causal, and it exhibits considerable heterogeneity, being stronger among dual-earner couples, native couples, and couples living in rural regions.
Subjects: 
marital stability
divorce
administrative divorce
divorce costs
JEL: 
J12
J18
K36
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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