The Economics of Hypergamy

Ingvild Almås, Andreas Kotsadam, Espen R. Moen and Knut Røed ()

Journal of Human Resources, 2023, vol. 58, issue 1, 260-281

Abstract: 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. We argue that through its influence on household specialization, hypergamy may explain parts of the remaining gender wage gap.

JEL-codes: D10 J12 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
Note: DOI: 10.3368/jhr.58.3.1219-10604R1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/58/1/260
A subscription is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.

Related works:
Working Paper: The Economics of Hypergamy (2019)
Working Paper: The Economics of Hypergamy (2019)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:58:y:2023:i:1:p:260-281

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Human Resources from University of Wisconsin Press
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().