Full Citation

Title: Testing Becker's Theory of Positive Assortative Matching

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2009

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: In a static frictionless transferable utilities bilateral matching mar-ket with systematic and idiosyncratic payos, supermodularity of thematch output function implies a strong form of positive assortativematching: The equilibrium matching distribution has all positive lo-cal log odd ratios or totally positive of order 2 (TP2). A particu-lar form of a preference for own type implies supermodularity of thematch output function. Other forms imply non-TP2 behavior. Lo-cal odds ratios are not informative on whether a bilateral matchingmarket equilibrates with or without transfers. Using white marriedcouples in their thirties from the US 2000 census, spousal educationalmatching obeyed TP2 except for less than 0.2% of marriages withextreme spousal educational disparities. Using the TP2 order, therewere more positive assortative matching by couples living in SMSA'sthan those who do not; but not more positive assortative matching in2000 than in 1970. There were increases in speci?c local log odds over that period.

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Siow, Aloysius

Series Title:

Publication Number: 356

Institution: University of Toronto

Pages:

Publisher Location:

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Methodology and Data Collection, Other

Countries: