The Economics of Hypergamy
Link to article:
Authors:
Almås, Ingvild, Andreas Kotsadam, Espen R. Moen and Knut Røed
Year:
2020
Reference:
The Journal of Human Resources
1219 - 10604 R1Summary
Partner selection is a vital feature of human behavior with important consequences for individuals, families, and society. We use the term hypergamy to describe a phenomenon whereby there is a tendency for husbands to be of higher rank within the male earnings capacity distribution than their wives are within the female distribution. Such patterns are difficult to verify empirically because earnings are both a cause and an effect of the mating process. Using parental earnings rank as a predetermined measure of earnings capacity to solve the simultaneity problem, we show that hypergamy is an important feature of today’s mating patterns in one of the most gender-equal societies in the world, namely Norway. Through its influence on household specialization, we argue that hypergamy may explain parts of the remaining gender wage gap.
Keywords:
Marriage Gender identity Labor supply Household specialization
Project:
Oppdragsgiver: Norges ForskningsrådOppdragsgivers prosjektnr.: 236992
Frisch prosjekt: 1178 - Egalitarianism under pressure? New perspectives on inequality and social cohesion
Oppdragsgiver: Norges Forskninsgråd
Oppdragsgivers prosjektnr.: 280350/GE
Frisch prosjekt: 1191 - The decline in employment and the rise of its social gradient
