PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Carter, Susan Payne
AU  - Wozniak, Abigail
TI  - Making Big Decisions
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.59.1.0919-10429R1
DP  - 2023 May 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 713--754
VI  - 58
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/58/3/713.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/58/3/713.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2023 May 01; 58
AB  - We use exogenously determined, long-distance relocations of U.S. Army soldiers to investigate the impact of moving on marriage. In an event study analysis, we find that marriage rates increase sharply around the time of a move. Reduced-form exposure analysis reveals that an additional move over a five-year period increases the likelihood of marriage by 14 percent, a magnitude similar to those in observational data on civilians. Moves increase childbearing by a similar magnitude, suggesting that marriages induced by a move are formed with long-term intentions. We explore implications of our findings for theories of marriage related to search, bargaining, and decision-making costs.