‘TIL LAWS DO US PART?: THE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN DIVORCE LAWS ON DIVORCE RATES IN MEXICO

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TIL LAWS DO US PART? THE IMPACT OF CHANGES IN
DIVORCE LAWS ON DIVORCE RATES IN MEXICO

Nellie Lew University of California, Santa
Barbara lew_at_econ.ucsb.edu
Trinidad Beleche University of California,
Riverside trinidad.beleche_at_email.ucr.edu
Data
Abstract
Demographic Characteristics of States That
Liberalize Divorce Laws Are Similar To Those That
Dont

• State-based panel data of all divorces,
  1993-2005 (INEGI)
• Rich set of covariates
• State Civil Codes

During the 1990s many states in Mexico began to
reform their divorce civil codes by adopting more
liberal provisions. At the same time divorce
rates in Mexico have been rising. Using a panel
of state-level Mexican data from 1993 to 2005, we
examine the impact of law changes that relax the
grounds for divorce on a states divorce rate.
Our difference-in-difference estimation suggests
that liberalization of the divorce laws did not
contribute to an increase in the divorce rate.
Model

• We regress divorce rates on a law change
  indicator, controlling
  for state, year
  fixed-effects, and state-specific linear trends

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Results
Divorce Rates and Divorce Law Adoption
Divorce Rates Have Almost Doubled
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Conclusion
Variation in the Timing of Divorce Law Adoption
States Have Also Expanded Their Divorce Laws

• Unlike claims that easier divorce leads to an
  increase in divorce rates, we find that
  liberalization of divorce laws did not
  significantly impact divorce rates.
• Although not statistically significant, our
  estimates indicate that changes in divorce laws
  account for at most 19 of the doubling in
  Mexicos divorce rates that occurred between 1993
  and 2005.
• Controlling for dynamic effects on changes in
  divorce laws we find no evidence of a persistent
  impact.

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