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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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Article Information

vol. 57 no. 6 1885-1914
DOI 
https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.58.2.0320-10803R1
Published By 
University of Wisconsin Press
Print ISSN 
0022-166X
Online ISSN 
1548-8004
History 
  • Received March 1, 2020
  • Accepted July 1, 2020
  • Published online November 3, 2022.

ARTICLE VERSIONS

  • Ahead of Print Version (Friday, September 11, 2020 - 8:33 AM).
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Copyright & Usage 
© 2022 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System 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

Author Information

  1. Ariel J. Binder and
  2. David Lam
  1. 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.
  2. 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 (davidl{at}umich.edu).
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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
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
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