RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Property Division upon Divorce and Household Decisions
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 532
OP 560
DO 10.3368/jhr.58.4.0519-10243R3
VO 58
IS 2
A1 Huang, Yuting
A1 Pantano, Juan
A1 Ye, Han
A1 Yi, Junjian
YR 2023
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/58/2/532.abstract
AB Before 2011, Chinese married couples expected equal division of housing property upon divorce, even when the home was titled only under the husband’s name and bought by the husband before marriage. In 2011, a Supreme Court decision led to enforcement of a title-based regime, only for housing property purchased before marriage and brought into the marriage by one of the spouses. We investigate the effects of this legal change using a difference-in-differences design. We find that this legal change weakened wives’ intrahousehold bargaining power, leading to reductions in their leisure, increased consumption of male-favored goods, and reduced investment in children.