TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Chigavazira, Abraham
AU  - Fisher, Hayley
AU  - Robinson, Tim
AU  - Zhu, Anna
        TI  - The Consequences of Extending Equitable Property Division Divorce Laws to Cohabitants
        PY  - 2019/Jan/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 12102
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp12102
        AB  - This paper analyses the effect of extending equitable property division divorce laws to unmarried cohabiting couples in Australia. Using a triple-difference fixed effects approach we show that existing couples are more likely to make relationshipspecific investments after being exposed to laws enabling the equitable redistribution of property in the event of relationship breakdown. In affected couples we find that men increase their employment and women increase time spent on housework. Couples have more children and are more likely to become home owners. These results demonstrate the causal effect of property division laws on relationship-specific investments and inform the ongoing international debate about the appropriate legal treatment of unmarried cohabiting couples.
        KW  - cohabitation
KW  - divorce
KW  - property
KW  - division
KW  - household behavior
        ER  -