Full Citation

Title: Matching and Sorting in Online Dating

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2006

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Abstract: This paper studies the economics of match formation using a novel data set obtained from a major online dating service. Using detailed information on the users' attributes and interactions, we estimate a model of mate preferences. We use the Gale-Shapley algorithm to compute the (man-and woman-optimal) stable matches generated by the estimated preferences, and find that they are similar to the matches observed online. We then explore whether the estimated mate preferences, in conjunction with the Gale-Shapley algorithm, can explain assortative mating patterns in "offline" marriages. We conclude that the estimated mate preferences can generate assortative mating patterns similar to those observed in marriages even in the absence of search frictions.

Url: http://www.its.caltech.edu/~lyariv/Matching_files/Online-Matching-Sorting-ali.pdf

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Hitsch, Gunter J; Hortacsu, Ali; Ariely, Dan

Publisher: University of Chicago

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Family and Marriage, Other

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