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The Importance of Gifts in Marriage
Author(s) -
Parkman Allen M.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1093/ei/cbh075
Subject(s) - receipt , spouse , negotiation , economics , element (criminal law) , value (mathematics) , empathy , production (economics) , labour economics , function (biology) , demographic economics , social psychology , psychology , microeconomics , political science , law , accounting , machine learning , evolutionary biology , computer science , biology
In this article, a new element is introduced into the household production function: gifts. Gifts occur when spouses use their time and/or incomes to produce commodities that usually only have value to their spouse, such as empathy and understanding. The difficulty of identifying a potential mate's capacity to produce gifts prior to marriage and of negotiating for them during marriage is argued as having contributed to the increase in the divorce rate. Evidence is provided that women are the spouses most likely to seek a divorce and part of their motivation is an inadequate receipt of gifts during marriage.