Stochastic Models of Decision Making in Arranged Marriages

Amitrajeet A. Batabyal is the Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Berkeley. In addition to this book, Dr. Batabyal is the author of three books and dozens of scholarly journal articles.

This book is a valuable addition to the economics of arranged marriage. Clear results are derived in each essay that can explain empirical regularities and data can be used to test the theory. The book will likely inspire additional research. Arranged marriage is an important topic that has been little studied by economists. Researches in other fields also can use the modeling techniques developed here. This book is a valuable first step to understanding arranged marriages.

• Chapter 1 DedicationChapter 2 List of TablesChapter 3 ForewordChapter 4 PrefaceChapter 5 AcknowledgementsChapter 6 1. Introduction to Stochastic Models of Decision in Arranged MarriagesChapter 7 2. Aspects of Arranged Marriages and the Theory of Markov Decision ProcessesChapter 8 3. A Dynamic and Stochastic Analysis of Decision Making in Arranged MarriagesChapter 9 4. On Decision Making in Arranged Marriages with a Stochastic Reservation Quality LevelChapter 10 5. Spouse Selection in Arranged Marriages: An Analysis of Time Invariant and Time Variant Decision RulesChapter 11 6. On the Likelihood of Finding the Right Partner in Arranged MarriagesChapter 12 7. Meetings and Exposure Before an Arranged Marriage: A Probabilistic AnalysisChapter 13 8. Arranged or Love Marriage?: That is the QuestionChapter 14 9. On Strategy and the Likelihood of Success in Marital Matchmaking Under UncertaintyChapter 15 10. A Game Model of Dowry Determination in an Arranged Marriage ContextChapter 16 IndexChapter 17 About the Author