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Title: What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Ribar, David C.
What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies
IZA Discussion Paper No. 998, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), January 2004.
Also: http://ftp.iza.org/dp998.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Keyword(s): Benefits; Children, Well-Being; Cohabitation; Earnings; Family Structure; Health Factors; Marriage; Modeling; National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH); Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID); Parents, Single; Variables, Instrumental

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study critically reviews quantitative methods that have been employed and evidence that has been gathered to assess the benefits of marriage and consequences of other family structures. The study begins by describing theoretical models of the determinants of different well-being outcomes and the role of family structure in producing those outcomes. It also discusses models of the determinants of marriage. The study then overviews specific statistical techniques that have been applied in empirical analyses of the effects of marriage, including standard regression, instrumental variables, selection and switching models, matching, non-parametric bounds, fixed effects, and latent factor (correlated random effects) methods. The study then reviews selected studies that have been completed in three domains of well-being outcomes: children's well-being, adults' earnings, and adults' physical health.
Bibliography Citation
Ribar, David C. "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies." IZA Discussion Paper No. 998, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), January 2004.