Title
A direct test of the efficient marriage market hypothesis
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Economic Inquiry
Publication Date
1-1-1999
Volume
37
Issue
1
First Page
29
Last Page
46
Abstract
This paper takes Becker's efficient marriage market hypothesis at face value, and directly confronts it with data from Hong Kong. The theory of optimal assignment is used to develop an empirical model of spouse selection, which resembles a Tobit model. This model can address positive or negative assortative matching as well as marginal product pricing in marriage markets. We also use a computer algorithm to solve the assignment problem for imputed marital output. The degree to which the actual pairing of husbands and wives corresponds to the optimal pairing provides a goodness-of-fit test of the efficient marriage market hypothesis.
DOI
10.1111/j.1465-7295.1999.tb01414.x
Print ISSN
00952583
E-ISSN
14657295
Publisher Statement
Copyright © Western Economic Association International 1999
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Suen, W., & Lui, H.-K. (1999). A direct test of the efficient marriage market hypothesis. Economic Inquiry, 37(1), 29-46. doi: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1999.tb01414.x
