Economics of Love, Sex and Marriage

Book Reviewed: Dollars and Sex: How Economics Influences Sex and Love, by Marina Adshade

This is a very well written book with not too much emphasis on the underlying economic theory by Professor Marina Adshade of the University of British Columbia. In fact there is no economic data; I did not find any charts or tables, but occasionally some facts and figures are given. The evaluations are purely based on the concepts of economics and not moral issues associated with dating and sex. One of the most interesting features of sex and love is that most people prefer to date, have sex and marry people of their own race because of one's belief that there is a cultural compatibility. The benefit outweighs the costs of cross-cultural dating. The dynamics of interracial dating discussed is interesting in that higher education permits more interracial relationships. One of the economic arguments presented is that the two educated people make more money and can afford better lives and hence benefit outweighs the costs. For example, in West Palm Springs Beach, Florida, A Guatemalan has seven fewer years of schooling than the rest of the population, but a one year increase in education leads to more than 5 percentage point increase in marrying person of another nationality/ethnicity.

With regards to dating, the author suggests online dating sites should be method of choice, since they are strong markets. With heavy internet use; a person should be able to find a friend for serious relationship; the supply is quite big to satisfy the demand. Besides dating services, internet provides opportunities via, the instant messenger system, blogs, discussion boards, etc. The author states that this is a theory which she has not researched yet.

With regards to unfaithful economics, consider the probability of being caught and the cost of being caught and then calculate the expected cost of cheating. Consider two scenarios; a woman working outside home and another is a homemaker. The risks and costs of cheating in these two cases are different. Calculations using observed probabilities suggest that the homemaker has a higher cost of cheating and hence it is not in her economic interest to indulge in a costly escapade.

The subject of love is large but the author could have considered discussing the economic aspects of cougar dating and May-Dec romance in a separate chapter, since this is more common now days than twenty years ago. Numerous websites emerging online is an example of its popularity. The economics of escort service is another area that deserved a serious discussion. One of the shortcomings of this book is that it has very little economic and statistical data to support the author's claims. I wished she had used charts and tables from professional journals to support her arguments.