Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figure
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Marriage: the long-term contract
- 3 Marital commitment and the legal regulation of divorce
- 4 Mutual consent divorce
- 5 An economic approach to adultery law
- 6 Louisiana's covenant marriage law: recapturing the meaning of marriage for the sake of the children
- 7 Cohabitation and marriage
- 8 Marriage as a signal
- 9 For better or for worse? Is bargaining in marriage and divorce efficient?
- 10 Weak men and disorderly women: divorce and the division of labor
- 11 The impact of legal reforms on marriage and divorce
- 12 European divorce laws, divorce rates, and their consequences
- Index
- References
2 - Marriage: the long-term contract
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figure
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Marriage: the long-term contract
- 3 Marital commitment and the legal regulation of divorce
- 4 Mutual consent divorce
- 5 An economic approach to adultery law
- 6 Louisiana's covenant marriage law: recapturing the meaning of marriage for the sake of the children
- 7 Cohabitation and marriage
- 8 Marriage as a signal
- 9 For better or for worse? Is bargaining in marriage and divorce efficient?
- 10 Weak men and disorderly women: divorce and the division of labor
- 11 The impact of legal reforms on marriage and divorce
- 12 European divorce laws, divorce rates, and their consequences
- Index
- References
Summary
Although far more than a contract from religious, cultural, biological, psychological, and philosophical perspectives, marriage is also a contract, the essence of which is transparent in the marriage vows. The man promises that he will be a husband, the woman that she will be a wife. Each promises that whatever changes are wrought by the winds of time they will continue to perform their respective duties in a spirit of “loving,” “honoring,” and “cherishing” for the remainder of their lives. In reliance on these assurances, each spouse invests in this marriage, thereby sacrificing current and future love interests and other life choices.
The promise to perform duties in a particular spirit is not merely hortatory; it is a material requirement of the contract. In marriage, more than in any other contract, the spirit counts, and counts a lot. Both the value to the recipient of spousal services and their cost, or value, to the provider are crucially dependent on the attitude with which they are delivered and received.
Some might object to the characterization of marriage as a contract. They observe that marriage seems more like status than contract. That is, it is the state that defines and specifies most of the explicit rights, duties, and privileges of marriage, rather than the parties. They also note the absence of substantial specific obligations voiced at the time of formation. How could this be a contract if there are virtually no specific, explicit duties?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Law and Economics of Marriage and Divorce , pp. 10 - 34Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002
References
- 10
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