As a result of the increasing divorce rate over the past decades and the gr
owing burden on the U.S court system, many states have stressed mediation a
s an alternative to a court judgment. What determines whether divorcing cou
ples reach a bilateral settlement or resort to use of the courts? In this p
aper, we summarize the predictions from the theoretical literature on settl
ement failure and consider what these theories suggest in the application o
f divorce. The predictions of the models are empirically tested using the S
tanford Child Custody Study. Estimation of the determinants of going to cou
rt indicates that none of the existing models on settlement failure adequat
ely predict the determinants of using the courts. The results do, however,
suggest that private information may play an important role in court usage.
In addition, the results provide some interesting implications for policy-
makers interested in decreasing the number of divorce cases that go to cour
t. Attorney representation and the man's income increase the likelihood of
going to court while the woman's education, the time lag between separation
and divorce, and home ownership all decrease the likelihood of going to co
urt. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.