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The value of male height in the marriage market

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  • Sohn, Kitae

Abstract

Analyzing the Indonesian Family Life Survey 2007, this paper estimates the value of relative height (relative to the spouse's height) in the marriage market of a developing country. The results indicate that the value of a 1cm reduction in the husband's height relative to his wife's height is about 3% of his earnings. 3% of the mean of yearly earnings amounts to Rp. 492,000 or US$54 in 2007. That value is reduced to 1% when earnings-generating attributes are controlled for. This difference of 2% points can be considered the value that women attach to their husbands’ earnings-generating attributes; meanwhile, the remaining 1% suggests that there are still other attributes that women look for in male height.

Suggested Citation

  • Sohn, Kitae, 2015. "The value of male height in the marriage market," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 110-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:18:y:2015:i:c:p:110-124
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2015.05.004
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    Cited by:

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    5. Yamamura, Eiji & Tsutsui, Yoshiro, 2017. "Comparing the role of the height of men and women in the marriage market," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 42-50.
    6. Eiji Yamamura & Yoshiro Tsutsui, 2016. "Comparing the role of height between men and women in the marriage market," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 16-20, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    7. Wilson, Nicholas & Janicki, Martha, 2016. "A cut above the rest? Private anthropometrics in marriage markets," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 164-179.
    8. Kim, Younoh & Knowles, Scott & Manley, James & Radoias, Vlad, 2017. "Long-run health consequences of air pollution: Evidence from Indonesia's forest fires of 1997," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 186-198.
    9. Murasko, Jason E., 2020. "Height, marriage, and partner characteristics for women in low- and middle-income countries," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    10. Francisco J. Marco-Gracia & Javier Puche, 2020. "Did taller people live longer? Influence of height on life span in rural Spain, 1835-2019," Working Papers 0201, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    11. Marco-Gracia, Francisco J. & Puche, Javier, 2021. "The association between male height and lifespan in rural Spain, birth cohorts 1835-1939," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    12. Kitae Sohn, 2016. "Risk Incomprehension and Its Economic Consequences," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(11), pages 1545-1560, November.
    13. Mavisakalyan, Astghik, 2018. "Do employers reward physical attractiveness in transition countries?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 38-52.
    14. Eiji Yamamura & Yoshiro Tsutsui, 2017. "Gap of height and education within couple and its effect on conflict and evaluation about partners: psychological cost of division of labor within household," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 17-35, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    15. Raufhon Salahodjaev & Nargiza Ibragimova, 2020. "Height and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Russia," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 219-237, March.
    16. Thompson, Kristina & Portrait, France & Lindeboom, Maarten, 2022. "Is paternal height related to fertility outcomes? Evidence from the Netherlands during the secular growth trend," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    17. Yang, Xiao & Gao, Jian & Liu, Jin-Hu & Zhou, Tao, 2018. "Height conditions salary expectations: Evidence from large-scale data in China," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 501(C), pages 86-97.

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