The economic effects of divorce

Abstract

Despite the array of theoretical and empirical research on the social effects of divorce, such research capturing the wide spectrum of economic effects of divorce is very limited. This dissertation tries to give a background of the existing theoretical work in this regard while giving a framework and analysis of the current empirical work. The main conclusion that emerges following a cross-country review is that divorce should not be the first best solution to family fragmentation as it impinges negatively on the individual, society and the government.