The Fig Leaf of Economic Theory

For those interested in the mechanisms of conjugal separation, the article by Cécile Bourreau-Dubois and Myriam Doriat-Duban, based on purely theoretical concepts of orthodox economics, may appear somewhat disconnected from reality. The authors ask, for example, whether divorce is an exogenous risk – a random event independent of the will of the partners – or endogenous – tied to the partners’ decisions, including their potentially “incautious” behaviour: “They can act upon the probability of divorce, for example by being faithful and attentive to the other or investing in the household” (p. 462). As sociologists working on the legal aspects of conjugal separations (Collectif Onze, 2013), we believe that it is essential to lay down the abundantly documented socioeconomic facts that the article helps to mask.The article is based on a temporal division between “before” and “after” the divorce