The value of male height in the marriage market

Kitae Sohn

Economics & Human Biology, 2015, vol. 18, issue C, 110-124

Abstract: Analyzing the Indonesian Family Life Survey 2007, this paper estimates the value of relative height (relative to the spouse's height) in the marriage market of a developing country. The results indicate that the value of a 1cm reduction in the husband's height relative to his wife's height is about 3% of his earnings. 3% of the mean of yearly earnings amounts to Rp. 492,000 or US$54 in 2007. That value is reduced to 1% when earnings-generating attributes are controlled for. This difference of 2% points can be considered the value that women attach to their husbands’ earnings-generating attributes; meanwhile, the remaining 1% suggests that there are still other attributes that women look for in male height.

Keywords: Height; Marriage; Value; Indonesian family life survey; Evolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:18:y:2015:i:c:p:110-124

DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2015.05.004

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