Nonparametric estimation of matching efficiency and elasticity in a marriage agency platform: 2014–2025

Suguru Otani

Economics Letters, 2025, vol. 256, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines monthly matching efficiency in the Japanese marriage market using novel data from IBJ, the country’s largest structured matching platform. Unlike administrative or dating app data, IBJ provides full search, dating, and matching logs based on verified profiles and confirmed engagements. Users are highly selected into serious marriage search via costly screening. Covering 3.3% of national marriages annually, I estimate time-varying matching functions using a nonparametric approach. Matching efficiency triples between 2014 and 2025, with diverging elasticities indicating increasingly asymmetric responsiveness. Results show how digital intermediation reshapes partner search in modern marriage markets.

Keywords: Matching function; Matching efficiency; Matching elasticity; Marriage agency platform; Dating (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D8 J10 J12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:256:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525004549

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112617

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