Full Citation
Title: Education and Interethnic Marriage Decisions
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2004
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Abstract: Interethnic marriages are generally accepted as both a major catalyst for and result of the intergenerational assimilation of immigrants. This paper examines one particular determinant of interethnic marriages, namely, education. Three possible avenues through which education affects the marriage choice are explored. First, education increases the probability that immigrants leave their ethnic enclaves, making it more difficult to meet possible spouses of the same ethnicity. Second, assortative matching on education implies that more educated individuals are willing to sacrifice ethnic traits in a spouse for intellectual attributes. Third, education makes immigrants better able to adapt to the customs of the native culture. A theoretical model of household formation is used to derive empirical tests for the relative merits of these three explanations. Using IPUMS data, I find that assortative matching on education is the most important avenue through which education affects the probability of intermarriage.
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Authors: Furtado, Delia
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Publication Number: 16/07
Institution: Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Education, Family and Marriage
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