Nationals marrying nationals - LIBERTY
A North American Expat Lifestyle Magazine
Issue 03 March 2005
I don't know. But I bet that families would guarantee (if they could) that they would not interfere if in return it would gain their daughters a good marriage partner. This is yet another example of time inconsistency and the value of commitment (in this case, not to interfere).
Men taking foreign brides is viewed as a national problem. (In a country where Nationals are 80% of the population, I can understand the anxiety.) Among the actions taken by the government:
Ordinary supply and demand analysis would tell us if you put a ceiling on the bride price this reduces the quantity of brides supplied and thereby reduces the number of marriages. Yes, the number of men who wish to marry would increase, but, because the number of available brides falls, the number of marriages fall.
On this analysis the policy of penalizing lavish weddings and large dowries will produce a result the opposite of what is intended.
Right? Tell me.
A North American Expat Lifestyle Magazine
Issue 03 March 2005
What reasons do National men cite for their disinterest in marrying the U.A.E. local women? Mostly economics. ... The common six figure dowry sum is agreed between the groom's family and the bride's parents and is paid to the bride herself. Honor and pride drive the amount higher and higher. Before the marriage has an honest chance at a happy start, the young groom is in debt and struggling to repay the wedding loan.As the saying goes in economics, exit costs are entry costs. Make it more costly to leave and men will be less likely to enter into a marriage, especially when alternatives exist.
Another possible key to National men's interest in marrying foreign women could be the cost of divorce. To divorce his UAE national wife, he may pay as much as Dhs. 50,000 in deferred payments while a foreign wife can be divorced for as little as 2,000 and a plane ticket home.
A study conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs surveying National men married to foreign women found that 66% of the husbands said they had chosen their wives to escape potential inteference by their in-laws.Many National women fear they will never be married. Jokes about "the in-laws" are a universal shared by most cultures, so in-law trouble is not unique to the UAE. Is it a question of extremely severe in-law trouble in the UAE that explains the number of marriages of National men to foreign brides? Or is it easy access to foreign brides?
I don't know. But I bet that families would guarantee (if they could) that they would not interfere if in return it would gain their daughters a good marriage partner. This is yet another example of time inconsistency and the value of commitment (in this case, not to interfere).
Men taking foreign brides is viewed as a national problem. (In a country where Nationals are 80% of the population, I can understand the anxiety.) Among the actions taken by the government:
In 1998, a UAE law was passed to restrict dowries to less than Dhs 10,000. Families may be fined up to US$136,000 if they stage a wedding celebration considered too elaborate.Unlike the case of ex post in-law interference - where it is not possible to commit not to interfere - the in-laws are capable of reducing their dowry demand to a point that their daughters do marry. Evidently, the government believes that the families of daughters tend to charge too much - and that there are not enough marriages between National men and women.
Ordinary supply and demand analysis would tell us if you put a ceiling on the bride price this reduces the quantity of brides supplied and thereby reduces the number of marriages. Yes, the number of men who wish to marry would increase, but, because the number of available brides falls, the number of marriages fall.
On this analysis the policy of penalizing lavish weddings and large dowries will produce a result the opposite of what is intended.
Right? Tell me.
Labels: *, ***2005, **2005, Best of EmEc 2005, Best of Emirates Economist, dowries, marriage
posted by John B. Chilton at 3/16/2005 08:30:00 PM
6 Comments:
Excellent article, but not neccesarily true about mariages falling because of smaller quantity of available bride's. The whole idea of the law and price ceiling is to incourage marriage of the national women to national men. In the long run the market for marriages in the UAE will find its equilibrium. But thats just an assumption, still we must remember the buyers taste just might not ever change when surrounded by over 190 substitues....
Maybe if this was the case in other gulf countries it would encourage more marriages in general for some of the other gulf countries some dont get married till very late in thier life, if at all. In which a law such as this would be perfect but for the UAE i doubt it will have the effect intended
What is mentioned in this article about marriage is true. However, this is not only in the UAE, but a problem in all of the gulf states. I have noticed that it has had a positive effect rather than the sought out negative effect most would think it would bring. Men would have to think twice before having to think how they are going to afford a well-built, successful marriage. Now, its been made more affordable. For instance, although locals pay more for their soon-to-be wedded wives, they are still rewarded lands and houses from the government. This luxury is not granted to them if they are wedded to an expat. This would make them think of the alternatives and trade-offs for marrying a non-local, and if it is actually worth the cost or not.
Wow, this is a very good articles, its also well written. I agree with almost everything that is mentioned in the article, but at the same time I disagree with it because of a couple of things. As an economist I know that its not good when the goverment intervenes, but I think that its a very good policy.When the goverment forces a price ceiling , it makes local men more attracted to local women. But at the same time "the quantity supplied for woomen" will decrease, causing a shortage, because the demand for local women will increase. I think that I would go with the economic point of view. good intentions dont work all the time.
Wow, this is a very good articles, its also well written. I agree with almost everything that is mentioned in the article, but at the same time I disagree with it because of a couple of things. As an economist I know that its not good when the goverment intervenes, but I think that its a very good policy.When the goverment forces a price ceiling , it makes local men more attracted to local women. But at the same time "the quantity supplied for woomen" will decrease, causing a shortage, because the demand for local women will increase. I think that I would go with the economic point of view. good intentions dont work all the time.
Lets see...
First of all, i agree with Khalid Al-Rasheed when he says, "The whole idea of the law and price ceiling is to incourage marriage of the national women to national men." so I disagree with the fact that the number of marriages decreased due to reduced number of brides.
Second of all, I believe that the reasons why Local men would marry Foreign women is not always depending on the cost, but for other reasons which we do not need to get into right now, So I think that the cost is not always the problem in such cases. Apart from these 2 points I agree with everything else in the article.
Thanks for the guideline about the wedding loans...
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