Resumen de An effective punishment scheme to reduce extramarital affairs: an economic approach

Xuemei Liu

• By using a dynamic stochastic optimization model, this paper shows that the existence of punishment does not necessarily deter extramarital affairs. This study may help to explain why extramarital affairs are a common phenomenon in most societies even though punishment exists. This study also has an implication for family laws: extramarital affairs can be effectively reduced if the legal punishment scheme is designed in the way that makes the adulterer’s expected loss increase with the level of adultery at an increasing or constant rate.