Hypergamy, Cross-Boundary Marriages, and Family Behavior

Yoram Weiss, Junjian Yi and Junsen Zhang

No 7293, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study the rise in marriages between residents of HK and China following the handover of HK to China in 1997. Cross-boundary marriages accounted for almost half the marriages registered in HK in 2006. Because of large differences in male income between China and HK, marriages of HK men with Mainland women outnumbered those of HK women with mainland men sevenfold. Following the handover, HK women had lower marriage, higher divorce and higher emigration rates. These outcomes are predicted by our matching model and contradict the hypothesis that cross-boundary marriages were driven by rising education of HK women.

Keywords: one-way permit; hypergamy; cross-boundary marriage; family behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J11 J12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 54 pages
Date: 2013-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-dem and nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published - revised version published as 'Cross-border marriage costs and marriage behavior: Theory and Evidence' in: International Economic Review, 2018. 59 (2), 757 -784

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