The Mystery of Monogamy
American Economic Review
vol. 98,
no. 1, March 2008
(pp. 333-57)
Abstract
We examine why developed societies are monogamous while rich men throughout history have typically practiced polygyny. Wealth inequality naturally produces multiple wives for rich men in a standard model of the marriage market. However, we demonstrate that higher female inequality in the marriage market reduces polygyny. Moreover, we show that female inequality increases in the process of development as women are valued more for the quality of their children than for the quantity. Consequently, male inequality generates inequality in the number of wives per man in traditional societies, but manifests itself as inequality in the quality of wives in developed societies. (JEL J12, J16, J24, Z13)Citation
Gould, Eric D., Omer Moav, and Avi Simhon. 2008. "The Mystery of Monogamy." American Economic Review, 98 (1): 333-57. DOI: 10.1257/aer.98.1.333JEL Classification
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology