The Ties that Bind: Principles of Cohesion in Cohabitation and Marriage
研究婚姻和长期同居关系稳定性的决定因素，发现劳动分工专业化降低离婚风险但效果有限，而同居伴侣在经济上越平等越不易分手，尤其当女性收入高于伴侣时关系更脆弱。
A vast literature addresses the correlates of marital stability, but little is known about what unites cohabiting partners over time. Although a specialized division of labor might increase the benefits of marriage and strengthen ties between husband and wife, transactional considerations make specialization unattractive for cohabitors. Drawing from work on the emergence of commitment, we argue that cohabitors are more likely to remain together under conditions of equality. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we test these ideas by modeling the stability of married and long-term cohabiting unions in the United States. We find that married couples who adopt a more specialized division of labor are less likely to divorce, but the effect is modest. Among cohabitors, partners whose employment and earnings are increasingly similar face sharply reduced risks of breaking up, but the effect is asymmetric: Inequality is more disruptive when the female cohabitor earns more than her partner.