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On the Emergence of Toyboys: Equilibrium Matching with Ageing and Uncertain Careers

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  • Coles, Melvyn

    (University of Essex)

  • Francesconi, Marco

    (University of Essex)

Abstract

Toyboy marriages (where the female partner is at least 5 years older than her male partner) have grown threefold since the 1970s in the United States and Britain. This paper examines this phenomenon using an equilibrium search framework in which becoming successful in the labour market takes time and fitness decays with age. Our framework hinges on contract incompleteness in the marriage market and the assumption that the marginal gain to marrying someone rich is greatest for someone poor. With this structure we can explain why successful (older) types might marry fitter (younger) and less successful types. We show that toyboy marriages arise in equilibrium only when men and women have comparable labour market opportunities. U.S. and British data confirm this indicating that the probability that a woman is married to a toyboy increases by about 45 percent if, relative to her partner’s, she is more educated and in a better paid job.

Suggested Citation

  • Coles, Melvyn & Francesconi, Marco, 2007. "On the Emergence of Toyboys: Equilibrium Matching with Ageing and Uncertain Careers," IZA Discussion Papers 2612, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2612
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Hani Mansour & Terra McKinnish, 2011. "Who Marries Differently-Aged Spouses?: Earnings, Ability and Appearance," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1123, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Díaz-Giménez, Javier & Giolito, Eugenio, 2008. "Gender Differences and the Timing of First Marriages," IZA Discussion Papers 3539, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Wahhaj, Zaki, 2018. "An economic model of early marriage," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 147-176.
    4. Alison L. Booth & Hiau Joo Kee, 2009. "The University Gender Gap in Australia: A Long-run Perspective," CEPR Discussion Papers 610, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    5. Chiappori, Pierre-André & Oreffice, Sonia & Quintana-Domeque, Climent, 2010. "Matching with a Handicap: The Case of Smoking in the Marriage Market," IZA Discussion Papers 5392, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Giolito Eugenio, 2010. "On Population Structure and Marriage Dynamics," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-54, November.
    7. Zaki Wahhaj, 2015. "A Theory of Child Marriage," Studies in Economics 1520, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    8. E. M. Parilina & A. Tampieri, 2013. "Marriage Formation with Assortative Meeting as a Two-Sided Optimal Stopping Problem," Working Papers wp886, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    9. Alison L. Booth & Hiau Joo Kee, 2011. "A Long‐Run View Of The University Gender Gap In Australia," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(3), pages 254-276, November.
    10. Paula England & Elizabeth Aura McClintock, 2009. "The Gendered Double Standard of Aging in US Marriage Markets," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(4), pages 797-816, December.
    11. Stephen Kinsella & David M. Ramsey, 2011. "A Model of Partnership Formation with Friction and Multiple Criteria," Working Papers 201119, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    marriage; two-sided search; non-transferable utility; ex-ante heterogeneity; ageing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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