Topic: Do You Like My Parents? Intergenerational Marital Sorting: Evidence from a Field Experiment
Studies investigating marital matching often face the challenge of survivor bias due to the ex-post survey data they use. We explore the causal impact of parents’ occupations on their children's marriage matching from an ex-ante perspective via an online dating experiment. We find that, first, individuals whose parents have higher socio-economic status occupations enjoy significant premiums in the marriage market in terms of matching opportunities and matching qualities. Second, individuals with superior ascribed and acquired traits are more demanding on spouses’ parental occupations. Third, improving one's education and income are more beneficial for individuals whose parents have higher socioeconomic status occupations. Fourth, the motivation analyses suggest that individuals prefer spouses whose parents have occupations characterized by high income, high social status, and low elder care costs. Finally, we show that the preference for spouses with parents of high socioeconomic status occupations may contribute to an increase in inequality and a decrease in intergenerational mobility.
Brief Bio: Deng Weiguang
Deng Weiguang is an Associate Professor at the School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, and a Yuebiao Scholar at Hunan University. He received his PhD from the Department of Economics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2014, and his Master's degree from Sun Yat-sen University. His main research interests are labour economics, behavioural experimental economics, cultural economics, and economic history. He has published a number of academic papers in SSCI and CSSCI indexed journals such as Journal of Population Economics, China Economic Review; Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Economic Research Journal, Chinese Economics, Economic Science, Studies in Labour Economics, and so on. Economic Research Journal, Chinese Economics, Quarterly, Economic Science, and Studies in Labour Economics. He has published a monograph entitled Survey Report on the Growth Behaviour of Chinese University Students. He has conducted large-scale microdata surveys, such as the China College Student Tracking Survey and the China Intergenerational Relationship Survey, as well as a number of field experimental surveys. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the China Forum of Labour Economics Scholars, and Secretary-General of the Board of Directors of the China Forum of Labour Economics Scholars for 2019-2020, and a Fellow of the Global Labor Organization.
Time: 11:00-12:30 on Friday, 16 June 2023
Moderator: Ye Jingjing (Professor of the School of Public Finance and Taxation)
Venue: Conference Room 119, Wenqin Building