There's more to marriage than love: the effect of legal status and cultural distance on intermarriages and separations

We analyse the contribution of legal status incentives on the marriage choices of natives and migrants. Access to legal status reduces by 40 percent the probability of immigrants intermarrying with natives, and increases by 20 percent the hazard rate of separation for intermarriages. We develop and estimate a multidimensional equilibrium model of marriage, fertility, and separation, where individuals match on observed and unobserved characteristics. Allowing for trade-offs between cultural distance, legal status, and other socio-economic spousal characteristics, we quantify the role of legal status and the strength of cultural preferences and evaluate the welfare consequences of granting legal status to immigrants.