TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Jelnov, Pavel
        TI  - The Marriage Age U-Shape
        PY  - 2019/May/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 12356
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp12356
        AB  - In this paper, I address the U-shaped dynamics (a decrease followed by an increase) in the age at first marriage during the twentieth century. First, I show that the U-shaped dynamics have been steeper in Western that in other countries. Second, I find that these dynamics in Western Europe are strongly related to the post-WWII economic development. By contrast, in the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries age of marriage was much less correlated across Western countries. I propose a simple model where age of marriage is a function of search frictions and a structural change of the economy. Both factors put together generate U-shaped dynamics as a result of an industrial boom that mimics the post-WWII economic development, especially in Western countries. 
        KW  - twentieth century demography
KW  - economic development
KW  - age of marriage
        ER  -