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Searching on the Campus? Marriage Market Effects of the Student Gender Composition by Field of Study

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  • Pestel, Nico

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of the student sex ratio on marriage market outcomes of university graduates in Germany. Using Microcensus data combined with administrative information on the gender composition of students, I exploit substantial variation in gender imbalances by field of study experienced by individuals holding a tertiary degree at the time of education. The main findings show that a higher share of the own gender among fellow students negatively affects marriage market opportunities for women and significantly decreases the probability of living with a partner from the same field for both men and women. Moreover, when the own gender is abundant men are more likely to marry down with respect to educational status, while women rather have a partner with the same level of education.

Suggested Citation

  • Pestel, Nico, 2016. "Searching on the Campus? Marriage Market Effects of the Student Gender Composition by Field of Study," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145510, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc16:145510
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Mansour, Hani & McKinnish, Terra, 2014. "Same-Occupation Spouses: Preferences and Search Costs," IZA Discussion Papers 8370, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    7. Marianne Bertrand & Emir Kamenica & Jessica Pan, 2015. "Gender Identity and Relative Income within Households," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(2), pages 571-614.
    8. Ran Abramitzky & Adeline Delavande & Luis Vasconcelos, 2011. "Marrying Up: The Role of Sex Ratio in Assortative Matching," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 124-157, July.
    9. Bicakova, Alena & Jurajda, Štepán, 2016. "Field-of-Study Homogamy," IZA Discussion Papers 9844, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    Cited by:

    1. Hani Mansour & Terra McKinnish, 2018. "Same-occupation spouses: preferences or search costs?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1005-1033, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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