Amy

1
Amy Bens EngagementEvidence from Email

• Amy Finkelstein and Ben Olken
• This version February 27, 2005

2
Major events

• September 23, 2003 Amy and Ben become engaged on
  Merritt Parkway
• October 9, 2003 May 29 2005 wedding date set and
  location decided.
• December 30, 2003 In now-famous email, mother of
  the bride declares We have lost the luxury of
  time
• May 29, 2005 The Wedding!

3
Data

• All wedding-related emails received by Ben Olken
  from September 2003 to present
• Potential missing data problems
• Some emails received may not have been saved
• Some emails sent only to Amy
• Results may therefore understate true amount of
  wedding-related emails,
• But no reasons to suspect systematic biases in
  missing data

4
Descriptive Statistics

• Total number of wedding-related emails received
  to date 735 (and still counting.)
• Average number of wedding-related emails per day
  of engagement 1.45
• Maximum number of wedding-related emails received
  in 24 hour period 19

5
Time Series Pattern of Email Receipt
Total Number of Wedding-Related Emails Received
Per Month
May 29, 2005Amy and Ben get married in Brooklyn
September 21, 2003Amy and Ben get engaged on
Merritt Parkway
6
Distribution of emails received

• Fathers of bride and groom send fewer emails
  than mothers
• Data consistent with Alan Finkelstein not being
  capable of using email

7
The Luxury of Time

• Two months after our engagement, and sixteen
  months before the already-set wedding date (and
  location), we received the following now-famous
  email
• From Jlkf1125_at_aol.com Date Tue, 30 Dec 2003
  151625 EST Subject Re One thought on music
  To bolken_at_fas.harvard.edu, afinkels_at_nber.org
  CC Jlkf1125_at_aol.com X-Mailer 6.0 sub 10582
  ... I do believe we have lost "the luxury of
  time" based on the projected spring schedule, and
  would like to move as expeditiously as we all
  reasonably can on the contract for music and the
  decision on Amy's dress. ...Joan/Momm

8
June 1 2004 Deadline comes and goes
In October 2003, June 1 2004 agreed by all
parties to be date by which all wedding planning
will cease until Ben and Amy have secured jobs
No-planning period
9
Evidence of Strategic E-Mail Behavior
Marked decline in wedding-planning emails
co-incident with credible threat to move to
California
Amy and Ben consider job offers in California
10
Directions for further work

• Whos got time for further work Weve got a
  wedding to plan!
• Looking forward to seeing you in May!
• Love,
• Ben Amy