Sex ratios and marital matching outcomes in the Chinese marriage market

Abstract

This paper examines how a male-biased sex ratio affects marital matching outcomes by using the 2015 Chinese mini-census data. Based on a Heckit approach and an instrumental variable approach, we find that when females are scarce, males marry females from a lower social class, i.e., less educated or with the rural Hukou . In addition, males are more likely to find spouses who are younger than themselves, born in a different province, and of a different ethnicity. • Examine the effect of sex ratios on marital matching outcomes. • Use recent large-scale data in China. • Correct for the endogeneity issue and the sample selection bias. • A male-biased sex ratio leads to larger spousal gaps in multiple characteristics. • Marrying up by the scarcer sex is an important adjustment of marital matching.