Marry for What? Caste and Mate Selection in Modern India

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Banerjee, Abhijit; Duflo, Esther; Ghatak, Maitreesh; Lafortune, Jeanne
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-MICROECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7669
• DOI: 10.1257/mic.5.2.33
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 33-72
• 关键词: cultural transmission; marriage; EFFICIENCY; GENDER

摘要

This paper analyzes how preferences for a noneconomic characteristic (e.g., caste) can affect equilibrium patterns of matching, and empirically evaluates this in the context of middle-class Indian arranged marriages. We show theoretically how the equilibrium consequences of caste depend on whether preferences are towards one's own group or for marrying up. We then estimate actual preferences for caste and other attributes using a unique dataset of individuals who placed matrimonial advertisements and find only a strong preference for in-caste marriage. This translates, in equilibrium, in caste doing little to alter the matching patterns on non-caste attributes.