IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/somere/v50y2021i4p1763-1800.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lasso Regularization for Selection of Log-linear Models: An Application to Educational Assortative Mating

Author

Listed:
  • Mauricio Bucca
  • Daniela R. Urbina

Abstract

Log-linear models for contingency tables are a key tool for the study of categorical inequalities in sociology. However, the conventional approach to model selection and specification suffers from at least two limitations: reliance on oftentimes equivocal diagnostics yielded by fit statistics, and the inability to identify patterns of association not covered by model candidates. In this article, we propose an application of Lasso regularization that addresses the aforementioned limitations. We evaluate our method through a Monte Carlo experiment and an empirical study of educational assortative mating in Chile, 1990–2015. Results demonstrate that our approach has the virtue, relative to ad hoc specification searches, of offering a principled statistical criterion to inductively select a model. Importantly, we show that in situations where conventional fit statistics provide conflicting diagnostics, our Lasso-based approach is consistent in its model choice, yielding solutions that are both predictive and parsimonious.

Suggested Citation

  • Mauricio Bucca & Daniela R. Urbina, 2021. "Lasso Regularization for Selection of Log-linear Models: An Application to Educational Assortative Mating," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 50(4), pages 1763-1800, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:50:y:2021:i:4:p:1763-1800
    DOI: 10.1177/0049124119826154
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0049124119826154
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0049124119826154?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Raymer & Andrei Rogers, 2007. "Using age and spatial flow structures in the indirect estimation of migration streams," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(2), pages 199-223, May.
    2. Zhenchao Qian, 1997. "Breaking the racial barriers: Variations in interracial marriage between 1980 and 1990," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 34(2), pages 263-276, May.
    3. Christine Schwartz & Robert Mare, 2005. "Trends in educational assortative marriage from 1940 to 2003," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(4), pages 621-646, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aaron Gullickson, 2006. "Education and black-white interracial marriage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(4), pages 673-689, November.
    2. Yue Qian & Zhenchao Qian, 2014. "The gender divide in urban China: Singlehood and assortative mating by age and education," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(45), pages 1337-1364.
    3. Choi, Kate H. & Tienda, Marta & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Sinning, Mathias, 2011. "Immigration and Status Exchange in Australia and the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 5750, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Santana, Emilce, 2019. "POP award 2019 submissions," OSF Preprints ug3vb, Center for Open Science.
    5. repec:zbw:rwirep:0261 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Elwert, Annika, 2016. "Opposites Attract – Evidence of Status Exchange in Ethnic Intermarriages in Sweden," Lund Papers in Economic History 147, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    7. Christine Schwartz & Robert Mare, 2012. "The Proximate Determinants of Educational Homogamy: The Effects of First Marriage, Marital Dissolution, Remarriage, and Educational Upgrading," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 629-650, May.
    8. Annika Elwert, 2020. "Opposites Attract: Assortative Mating and Immigrant–Native Intermarriage in Contemporary Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(4), pages 675-709, September.
    9. Kate H. Choi & Marta Tienda & Deborah Cobb-Clark & Mathias Sinning, 2011. "Immigration and Status Exchange in Australia and the United States," Ruhr Economic Papers 0261, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    10. Yang Hu & Yue Qian, 2019. "Educational and age assortative mating in China: The importance of marriage order," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(3), pages 53-82.
    11. Zhenchao Qian & Jennifer Glick & Christie Batson, 2012. "Crossing Boundaries: Nativity, Ethnicity, and Mate Selection," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 651-675, May.
    12. Kelly Balistreri & Kara Joyner & Grace Kao, 2015. "Relationship Involvement Among Young Adults: Are Asian American Men an Exceptional Case?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(5), pages 709-732, October.
    13. Aaron Gullickson & Florencia Torche, 2014. "Patterns of Racial and Educational Assortative Mating in Brazil," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(3), pages 835-856, June.
    14. Christina Houseworth & Jonathan Fisher, 2024. "Not so Black and White: Interracial marriage and wages," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(2), pages 633-649, April.
    15. Xi Song & Robert D. Mare, 2017. "Short-Term and Long-Term Educational Mobility of Families: A Two-Sex Approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(1), pages 145-173, February.
    16. Delia Furtado & Stephen J. Trejo, 2013. "Interethnic marriages and their economic effects," Chapters, in: Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Migration, chapter 15, pages 276-292, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Nora Gordon & Sarah Reber, 2018. "The effects of school desegregation on mixed-race births," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 561-596, April.
    18. Roberto Bonilla & Alberto Trejos, 2021. "Marriage and employment participation with wage bargaining in search equilibrium," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 68(4), pages 517-533, September.
    19. Herrenbrueck, Lucas & Xia, Xiaoyu & Eastwick, Paul & Hui, Chin Ming, 2018. "Smart-dating in speed-dating: How a simple Search model can explain matching decisions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 54-76.
    20. Jeremy Greenwood & Nezih Guner & Georgi Kocharkov & Cezar Santos, 2014. "Marry Your Like: Assortative Mating and Income Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 348-353, May.
    21. Clark, Gregory & Cummins, Neil, 2022. "Assortative mating and the Industrial Revolution: England, 1754-2021," Economic History Working Papers 114608, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:somere:v:50:y:2021:i:4:p:1763-1800. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.