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What Will You Do If I Say 'I Do'?: The Effect of the Sex Ratio on Time Use within Taiwanese Married Couples

Author

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  • Chang, Simon

    (University of Western Australia)

  • Connelly, Rachel

    (Bowdoin College)

  • Ma, Ping

    (Central University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

This paper uses the natural experiment of a large imbalance between men and women of marriageable age in Taiwan in the 1960s to test the hypothesis that higher sex ratios lead to husbands (wives) having a lower (higher) share of couple's time in leisure and higher (lower) share of the couple's total work time (employment, commuting and housework). A large sample of Taiwanese couples' time diaries from 1987, 1990, and 1994 is used. The analysis finds evidence of the predicted effects of the county-level sex ratio on husbands' and wives' share of leisure and total work time. In addition, the age difference between husbands and wives is shown to be positively correlated with heightened county-level sex ratio a result which is also consistent with the theory that marriage market participants' choices are affected by the prevailing sex ratio.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang, Simon & Connelly, Rachel & Ma, Ping, 2015. "What Will You Do If I Say 'I Do'?: The Effect of the Sex Ratio on Time Use within Taiwanese Married Couples," IZA Discussion Papers 9287, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9287
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    Cited by:

    1. Simon Chang & Kamhon Kan & Xiaobo Zhang, 2024. "Too Many Men, Too-Short Lives: The Effect of the Male-Biased Sex Ratio on Mortality," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(2), pages 604-626.
    2. Rufei Guo & Qian Wang & Junjian Yi & Junsen Zhang, 2022. "Housing prices and son preference: Evidence from China’s housing reform," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 421-446, July.
    3. Chenghua Guan & Ling Zuo, 2021. "Sustainability of Regional Factors on the Gendered Division of Housework in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-16, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    marriage markets; Taiwan; time diaries; time use; sex ratios; bargaining power;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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