Book Chapter
An Empirical Analysis of the Economics of Marriage in Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia

From the book: Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics, Vol. 2.

Marriage is the single most important contractual arrangement youth in North Africa undertake as they navigate their transition to adulthood. Despite its importance in shaping subsequent socioeconomic trajectories, there has been limited empirical research on the economics of marriage in much of the developing world.

This chapter presents important new empirical evidence on the determinants of marriage outcomes in North Africa and the linkages and tradeoffs between these different outcomes. We examine a number of marriage outcomes using household survey data from Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, including age at marriage, age difference between marriage partners, marriage costs, consanguinity, and nuclear residence.