Why Most Divorce Filers Are Women 135 the marriage is not very likely to succeed over the long run,because mu- tual trust and respect may be destroyed (Gaughan,1981;Lerman,1984).16 2.2.Rent Appropriation Through Divorce A second means by which quasi-rents may lead to divorce is through the outright confiscation of a specific investment in the marriage.As we noted earlier,quasi-rents,or large differences in the value of the marriage versus the next best alternative,often arise after one spouse has made a specific investment in the marriage;say,by helping the other earn a degree. When the other partner controls this investment,he or she may be able to leave the marriage and take the investment along (Weitzman,1985, p.109).This is particularly true when the investment is in the human capital of the spouse who leaves,as is often the case with education (Brinig,1997;Mahoney v.Mahoney,1982;Parkman,1995;Weitzman, 1985,p.141).17 Possibilities for appropriating marital assets also arise when there are large differences in the timing of investments in the marriage.For exam- ple,in a traditional marriage where the wife makes most of her (human) capital investments in the marriage up front,as she "takes time off"from a career to bear children,the husband is able to enjoy most of these in- vestments and then to leave just when his major contributions are about to begin (O'Brien v.O'Brien,1985;but see,e.g.,Graham v.Graham,1987; Cohen,1987). This opportunistic appropriation of quasi-rents (or making off with marital assets)through divorce has the opposite implications from the first type of problem mentioned.With rent extraction during marriage,the spouse who has been exploited during the marriage should be the one who files.With rent appropriation through divorce,the spouse who can 16.Of course,even in such cases,many spouses do reconcile,some of them per- manently.In order to avoid scandal,some adulterous spouses may cede tremendous amounts of marital power.In an unfortunately large number of abuse cases,although renegotiation is promised and marital relations resume,the power imbalance remains the same,and abuse recurs.Although historically desertion would have been the typ- ical occasion for women's filing,contemporary wives would seem particularly likely to file more often than their husbands in abuse cases (Kurz,1995).Fagan and Browne (1994)recently calculated the percentage of family violence in which women were the victims. 17.The classic case of this type is the "medical school syndrome,"where a fresh doctor leaves a supporting spouse once medical school is finished.Why Most Divorce Filers Are Women 135 the marriage is not very likely to succeed over the long run, because mu￾tual trust and respect may be destroyed (Gaughan, 1981; Lerman, 1984).16 2.2. Rent Appropriation Through Divorce A second means by which quasi-rents may lead to divorce is through the outright confiscation of a specific investment in the marriage. As we noted earlier, quasi-rents, or large differences in the value of the marriage versus the next best alternative, often arise after one spouse has made a specific investment in the marriage; say, by helping the other earn a degree. When the other partner controls this investment, he or she may be able to leave the marriage and take the investment along (Weitzman, 1985, p. 109). This is particularly true when the investment is in the human capital of the spouse who leaves, as is often the case with education (Brinig, 1997; Mahoney v. Mahoney, 1982; Parkman, 1995; Weitzman, 1985, p. 141).17 Possibilities for appropriating marital assets also arise when there are large differences in the timing of investments in the marriage. For exam￾ple, in a traditional marriage where the wife makes most of her (human) capital investments in the marriage up front, as she “takes time off” from a career to bear children, the husband is able to enjoy most of these in￾vestments and then to leave just when his major contributions are about to begin (O’Brien v. O’Brien, 1985; but see, e.g., Graham v. Graham, 1987; Cohen, 1987). This opportunistic appropriation of quasi-rents (or making off with marital assets) through divorce has the opposite implications from the first type of problem mentioned. With rent extraction during marriage, the spouse who has been exploited during the marriage should be the one who files. With rent appropriation through divorce, the spouse who can 16. Of course, even in such cases, many spouses do reconcile, some of them per￾manently. In order to avoid scandal, some adulterous spouses may cede tremendous amounts of marital power. In an unfortunately large number of abuse cases, although renegotiation is promised and marital relations resume, the power imbalance remains the same, and abuse recurs. Although historically desertion would have been the typ￾ical occasion for women’s filing, contemporary wives would seem particularly likely to file more often than their husbands in abuse cases (Kurz, 1995). Fagan and Browne (1994) recently calculated the percentage of family violence in which women were the victims. 17. The classic case of this type is the “medical school syndrome,” where a fresh doctor leaves a supporting spouse once medical school is finished