title: Can pro-marriage policies work? An analysis of marginal marriages.
abstract: Policies to promote marriage are controversial, and it is unclear whether they are successful. To analyze such policies, one must distinguish between a marriage that is created by a marriage-promoting policy (marginal marriage) and a marriage that would have been formed even in the absence of a state intervention (average marriage). We exploit the suspension of a cash-on-hand marriage subsidy in Austria to examine the differential behavior of marginal and average marriages. The announcement of an impending suspension of this subsidy led to an enormous marriage boom among eligible couples that allows us to locate marginal marriages. Applying a difference-in-differences approach, we show that marginal marriages are surprisingly as stable as average marriages but produce fewer children, children later in marriage, and children who are less healthy at birth.
authors: Department of Economics, University of Linz, Altenbergerstrs. 69, A-4040, Linz-Auhof, Austria, wolfgang.frimmel@jku.at.
authors: Wolfgang
authors: W
authors: Frimmel
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Halla
authors: Rudolf
authors: R
authors: Winter-Ebmer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001317:Austria; D004243:Divorce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D008393:Marriage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057766:Policy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors