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Research ArticleArticles
Open Access

Is There a Male-Breadwinner Norm? The Hazards of Inferring Preferences from Marriage Market Outcomes

View ORCID ProfileAriel J. Binder and View ORCID ProfileDavid Lam
Journal of Human Resources, November 2022, 57 (6) 1885-1914; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.58.2.0320-10803R1
Ariel J. Binder
Ariel J. Binder is an Economist within the U.S. Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies. This paper was completed while he was a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Economics and Pre-Doctoral trainee in the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan.
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  • ORCID record for Ariel J. Binder
David Lam
David Lam is a Professor in the Department of Economics and Research Professor in the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research ().
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ABSTRACT

We find that distributions of spousal earnings gaps provide no identifying information for the male-breadwinner norm, nor such a norm’s consequences for gender inequality. First, we show that simple marital matching models— without norm-related assumptions—closely replicate U.S. distributions of wife-husband earnings gaps. Second, we show that the discontinuity in this distribution as wives start to outearn husbands reflects not breadwinner norms, but rather a point mass of equal-earning couples. We conclude by arguing that the point mass may also threaten other tests of the male breadwinner hypothesis and proposing several robustness checks that future research should utilize.

JEL Classification:
  • D10
  • J12
  • J16
  • Received March 2020.
  • Accepted July 2020.

This open access article is distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) and is freely available online at: http://jhr.uwpress.org

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Journal of Human Resources: 57 (6)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 57, Issue 6
1 Nov 2022
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Is There a Male-Breadwinner Norm? The Hazards of Inferring Preferences from Marriage Market Outcomes
Ariel J. Binder, David Lam
Journal of Human Resources Nov 2022, 57 (6) 1885-1914; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.58.2.0320-10803R1

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Is There a Male-Breadwinner Norm? The Hazards of Inferring Preferences from Marriage Market Outcomes
Ariel J. Binder, David Lam
Journal of Human Resources Nov 2022, 57 (6) 1885-1914; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.58.2.0320-10803R1
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  • Article
    • ABSTRACT
    • I. Introduction
    • II. Related Literature
    • III. Applying Becker’s Theory of Marriage to the Study of Social Norms
    • IV. The Skewed Distribution of Spousal Earnings Differences in the U.S. Does Not Imply a Male-Breadwinner Norm
    • V. Discontinuity or Point Mass? Assessing Alternative Evidence for a Male-Breadwinner Norm
    • VI. Discussion
    • Appendix
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Keywords

  • D10
  • J12
  • J16
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