The Economics of Love and Marriage

At the conclusion of his article "The Economics of Love and Marriage," the author asks himself whether he really believes that love and marriage can be analyzed with the abstract logic of economics (331). His answer is "yes, but," and it is an appropriate response. As a traditional institution that historically has affected its participants economic situations, marriage can be discussed using economic terminology and theories. Love, however, largely indefinable and unpredictable, seems to lend itself less readily to economic discussion.

The author begins with the easier, more acceptable discussion of marriage as an economic relationship (317-19). He recognizes that the division of labor in a marriage--for example, the husband performing any necessary carpentry and house repairs and the wife performing the cooking--is likely not the most perfect and efficient division of labor. However, it does possess a certain type of efficiency. It may, for instance, be cheaper and less time-consuming for the husband to perform such repairs rather than hire the work out. One can perhaps form an analogy to roommates in a house or apartment. Many people who are not married or not even interested in entering marriage choose to share living quarters because it is cheaper and often more convenient to do so than remain alone. Thus, the institution of marriage, as an extended and more elaboration version

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themselves married because they are afraid to lose a certain person--i.e, they are probably in love. The author's response to the question of love is that it reduces the conflicts of interest that lead to costly bargaining within the marriage (319). Once again, this does not answer the question of why people marry; it merely applies itself to the relationship after the marriage has occurred. Nonetheless, the author's discussion of altruism may offer some insight into why people in love marry even though it does not approach directly a theory of what love is and how it could possibly be economically classified and defined. The author's discussion of altruism focuses on the relationship between parent and child (326-30). The parent acts altruistically toward the child because the child is the purveyor of the parents genes. At least, this is what the author argues despite the question that arises as to how altruistic parental love is if it really only serves to protect the parent's own interest in their reproduction. Nonetheless, the parent's altruism generates cooperative behavior because of the beneficiary's interest in maintaining his or her favorable position. The relationship between altruism and love, therefore, one c

Category: Economics - T