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Lady and the Trump: Status and Wealth in the Marriage Market

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Abstract

We examine a relatively neglected aspect of intergenerational transmission of economic standing, namely culturally determined status markers and their valuation in the marriage market. We take nobility to be such a status marker. Using data on Swedish marriages, we test the hypothesis that nobility have a greater probability of marrying "up" in terms of wealth. We find a large and statistically significant positive effect for nobility. This finding has important implications for the intergenerational transmission of inequality, and for the longevity of the institution of nobility itself.

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  • Almenberg, Johan & Dreber, Anna, 2008. "Lady and the Trump: Status and Wealth in the Marriage Market," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 690, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 04 Dec 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:hastef:0690
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    Cited by:

    1. Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo & Maitreesh Ghatak & Jeanne Lafortune, 2013. "Marry for What? Caste and Mate Selection in Modern India," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 33-72, May.
    2. Petra Persson, 2020. "Social Insurance and the Marriage Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(1), pages 252-300.
    3. 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.
    4. Yujin Jeong & Jordan I. Siegel, 2018. "Threat of falling high status and corporate bribery: Evidence from the revealed accounting records of two South Korean presidents," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 1083-1111, April.
    5. Yamamura, Eiji, 2009. "Socio-economic status, gender, and spouse’s earnings: affect of family background on matching," MPRA Paper 17100, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Marriage; Status; Intergenerational Transmission; Nobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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