Research

WORK IN PROGRESS

Directed search on the marriage market

In this study, a static two-sided directed search model is applied to the marriage market to unravel male and female preferences over partner characteristics and terms of marriage given observed matches. The model takes into consideration the trade-off individuals face when searching for a partner, balancing between partner characteristics, terms of marriage, and matching probability. By using data from the ACS 5-year PUMS dataset (2015-2019), the study will estimate this equilibrium search-and-matching model and derive identifying power from variation in gender ratios across US regions. A unique aspect of this study is the incorporation of the collective household model literature by defining the terms of marriage as the distribution of bargaining power in the next relationship. Counterfactual analyses will also be conducted to examine the impact of exogenously changing the gender ratio on individuals’ searching behavior.

Consideration sets on the marriage market 

This paper integrates the notion of consideration sets in the revealed preference framework of Cherchye, Demuynck, De Rock, and Vermeulen (2017). Using a revealed preference methodology based on the assumption of marriage stability within the collective household model, this framework can identify the intrahousehold decision structure, such as the sharing rule. Based on this methodology, a comparative study is conducted across various marriage market specifications, ranging from two polar cases, the “conservative” approach (where only one’s current partner is considered) and the “full-market” approach (where everyone considers everyone), to six intermediate cases. The latter include the Cherchye et al. (2017) approach, where potential partners are considered based solely on age, as well as specifications based on five additional categories (BMI, wage, education, children, and religiosity). These categories are selected based on the assortative mating literature. The specifications are evaluated based on the level of stability, as well as the bounds and tightness of the sharing rule.