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Interethnic Marriage: A Choice between Ethnic and Educational Similarities

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Author Info
Furtado, Delia () (University of Connecticut)
Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos () (University of Cyprus)

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Abstract

This paper examines the effects of education on intermarriage, and specifically whether the mechanisms through which education affects intermarriage differ by immigrant generation, age at arrival, and race. We consider three main paths through which education affects marriage choice. First, educated people may be better able to adapt to different cultures making them more likely to marry outside of their ethnicity (cultural adaptability effect). Second, because the educated are less likely to reside in ethnic enclaves, meeting potential spouses of the same ethnicity may be difficult (enclave effect). Lastly, if spouse-searchers value similarities in education as well as similarities in ethnicity, then the effect of education will depend on the availability of same-ethnicity potential spouses with a similar level of education (assortative matching effect). Using data from the 2000 U.S. Census, we find that controlling for the enclave effect, there is empirical evidence for both the cultural adaptability and assortative matching effects. Our estimates also suggest that assortative matching is relatively more important for the native born rather than the foreign born, for the foreign born that arrived young rather than old, and for Asians rather than Hispanics. We provide additional evidence suggestive of our hypotheses and discuss policy implications.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 3448.

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Length: 33 pages
Date of creation: Apr 2008
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3448

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Related research
Keywords: ethnic intermarriage; education; immigration;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Helena Skyt Nielsen & Nina Smith & Aycan Celikaksoy, 2007. "The Effect of Marriage on Education of Immigrants: Evidence from a Policy Reform Restricting Spouse Import," Economics Working Papers 2007-07, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Delia Furtado, 2007. "Cross-Nativity Marriages, Gender, and Human Capital Levels of Children," Working papers 2007-33, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Daniel T. Lichter & J. Brian Brown & Zhenchao Qian & Julie H. Carmalt, 2007. "Marital Assimilation Among Hispanics: Evidence of Declining Cultural and Economic Incorporation?," Social Science Quarterly, The Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 88(3), pages 745-765. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Christian Dustmann, 1996. "The social assimilation of immigrants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 37-54.
  5. Borjas, George J., 1998. "To Ghetto or Not to Ghetto: Ethnicity and Residential Segregation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 228-253, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Becker, Gary S, 1973. "A Theory of Marriage: Part I," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(4), pages 813-46, July-Aug.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Borjas, George J, 1992. "Ethnic Capital and Intergenerational Mobility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(1), pages 123-50, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Joseph Schaafsma & Arthur Sweetman, 2001. "Immigrant earnings: age at immigration matters," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 34(4), pages 1066-1099, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Chiswick, Barry R. & DebBurman, Noyna, 2004. "Educational attainment: analysis by immigrant generation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 361-379, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Kantarevic, Jasmin, 2004. "Interethnic Marriages and Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," IZA Discussion Papers 1142, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  11. Bisin, Alberto & Verdier, Thierry, 1998. "Cultural Transmission, Marriage and the Evolution of Ethnic and Religious Traits," Working Papers 98-40, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University. [Downloadable!]
  12. Borjas, George J, 1995. "Ethnicity, Neighborhoods, and Human-Capital Externalities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 365-90, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Aycan Çelikaksoy & Helena Nielsen & Mette Verner, 2006. "Marriage migration: just another case of positive assortative matching?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 253-275, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Xin Meng & Robert G. Gregory, 2005. "Intermarriage and the Economic Assimilation of Immigrants," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(1), pages 135-176, January. [Downloadable!]
  15. George J. Borjas, 2006. "Making it in America: Social Mobility in the Immigrant Population," NBER Working Papers 12088, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Alberto Bisin & Giorgio Topa & Thierry Verdier, 2004. "Religious Intermarriage and Socialization in the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(3), pages 615-664, June.
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