Hypergamy and Human Capital: An Inquiry into the Indian Marriage and Labor Markets
Description
One of the least researched yet a popular term in social sciences is ‘Hypergamy.’ In simple words, hypergamy implies that women marry up in terms of their partners’ human capital and socioeconomic status (Rose, 2004). From a societal point, it might jeopardize the “success gap”- the difference in the likelihood that a woman with lesser years of education marries minus the likelihood that a woman with higher years of education marries (Rose, 2005). However, the economics of hypergamy is still unclear and not generalizable at all. Recent theories have shed light on the marriage markets of the developed economies like that of USA, Norway, etc. but there is no single paper to inquire the Indian marriage market, probably due to its complex nature. First, the practice of “arranged” marriage and secondly, the prevalence of dowry system makes the treatment difficult for researchers. This paper uses the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) data for 2011-12. IHDS is a nationally representative sample survey with longitudinal data for 2004-05 and 2011-12. The purpose of this working paper is to find if difference in the “success gap” between women and men is statistically significant. The overreaching aim of the (advanced) paper is to identify if endogamy and hypergamy are practiced widely in the Indian market for marriages, and if intergenerational human capital accumulation plays any crucial role across different socioreligious groups. Proceeding that, the paper intends to borrow the sociological framework of “Victorian” equilibrium versus “Sex and the City” equilibrium and apply a strategic game theoretical model for equilibrium solutions.
Hypergamy and Human Capital: An Inquiry into the Indian Marriage and Labor Markets
One of the least researched yet a popular term in social sciences is ‘Hypergamy.’ In simple words, hypergamy implies that women marry up in terms of their partners’ human capital and socioeconomic status (Rose, 2004). From a societal point, it might jeopardize the “success gap”- the difference in the likelihood that a woman with lesser years of education marries minus the likelihood that a woman with higher years of education marries (Rose, 2005). However, the economics of hypergamy is still unclear and not generalizable at all. Recent theories have shed light on the marriage markets of the developed economies like that of USA, Norway, etc. but there is no single paper to inquire the Indian marriage market, probably due to its complex nature. First, the practice of “arranged” marriage and secondly, the prevalence of dowry system makes the treatment difficult for researchers. This paper uses the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) data for 2011-12. IHDS is a nationally representative sample survey with longitudinal data for 2004-05 and 2011-12. The purpose of this working paper is to find if difference in the “success gap” between women and men is statistically significant. The overreaching aim of the (advanced) paper is to identify if endogamy and hypergamy are practiced widely in the Indian market for marriages, and if intergenerational human capital accumulation plays any crucial role across different socioreligious groups. Proceeding that, the paper intends to borrow the sociological framework of “Victorian” equilibrium versus “Sex and the City” equilibrium and apply a strategic game theoretical model for equilibrium solutions.