"For richer, for poorer": savings preferences and choice of spouse

Do couples share the same values? The social sciences have mainly concentrated on comparing the socioeconomic characteristics of spouses, but rarely their preferences to risk and time. In this paper, we use conventional measurements and an original method. We find that spouses are very similar in their savings preferences, even when we control for the individual characteristics. These conclusions are decisive in explaining wealth inequalities between households, since homogamy causes a divide in the population. However, if the correlation between preferences and wealth is clear when measured at the household level, spouses with opposite attitudes tend to be richer for some parameters.

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Source https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00786245
Author Arrondel, Luc, Frémeaux, Nicolas
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 7, 2026, 08:02 (UTC)
Created May 7, 2026, 08:02 (UTC)
Identifier halshs-00786245
Language en
Rights https://about.hal.science/hal-authorisation-v1/
contributor Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques (PSE) ; École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
creator Arrondel, Luc
date 2013-09-07T00:00:00
harvest_object_id 39696144-8414-4e2c-9dad-32da103b4115
harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2025-10-01T00:00:00
set_spec type:UNDEFINED