Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: Divorce Laws and Family Distress
利用美国各州离婚法改革时间差异，发现无过错离婚使女性自杀率下降8-16%，家庭暴力下降约30%，女性被伴侣谋杀下降10%。
This paper exploits the variation occurring from the different timing of divorce law reforms across the United States to evaluate how unilateral divorce changed family violence and whether the option provided by unilateral divorce reduced suicide and spousal homicide. Unilateral divorce both potentially increases the likelihood that a domestic violence relationship ends and acts to transfer bargaining power toward the abused, thereby potentially stopping the abuse in extant relationships. In states that introduced unilateral divorce we find a 8–16 percent decline in female suicide, roughly a 30 percent decline in domestic violence for both men and women, and a 10 percent decline in females murdered by their partners.