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Title: Guess Who's Been Coming to Dinner? Trends in Interracial Marriage over the 20th Cenutry

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2007

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Abstract: This paper studies marriages across black, white, and Asian racial lines. Marrying across racial lines is a rare event, even today. Interracial marriages account for approximately 1 percent of white marriages, 5 percent of black marriages, and 14 percent of Asian marriages. Following a brief history of the regulation of race and romance in America, I analyze interracial marriage using census data from 1880-2000, uncovering a rich set of cross-section and time-series patterns. I investigate the extent to which three different theories of interracial marriage can account for the patterns discovered. After also testing a social exchange theory and a search model, I find the data are most consistent with a Becker-style marriage market model in which objective criteria of a potential spouse, their race, and the social price of intermarriage are central.

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Authors: Fryer Jr., Roland G.

Periodical (Full): Journal of Economic Perspectives

Issue: 2

Volume: 21

Pages: 71-90

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Race and Ethnicity

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