Scholarly Comments on Academic Economics

Still No Evidence of Negative Outcomes from Same-Sex Marriage

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Abstract

We are pleased that Professors Allen and Price (2015) have continued to investigate the empirical connection between state laws that permit (or do not ban) same-sex unions/marriages and the possibility of adverse consequences for families. Using updated information about state laws, and using their preferred coding of that information, Professors Allen and Price have largely replicated our findings (Langbein and Yost 2009). In both investigations, same-sex marriage laws appear to have no adverse effects on families in the state where the laws operate. Both studies suffer from low power. More data and better research designs were not available when we wrote our study; we look forward to these improvements in the future.

This article is a response to Same-Sex Marriage and Negative Externalities: A Critique, Replication, and Correction of Langbein and Yost by Douglas W. Allen and Joseph Price (EJW, May 2015).