岭南学术论坛－经济学系列Seminar－Hard to get: The scarcity of women and the competition for high-income men in urban China

第524期岭南学术论坛（经济学系列Seminar）

报告题目：Hard to get: The scarcity of women and the competition for high-income men in urban China

主 讲 人：David Ong（暨南大学 教授）

主 持 人：杨扬（中山大学岭南学院 助理教授）

时     间： 2018年12月21日(周五) 16:10—17:40

地     址：岭南堂汪道涵会议室

摘要:

Reports of the difficulties of elite women in finding suitable mates have been increasing despite the growing scarcity of women in China. We show that this phenomenon can be a consequence of women’s preference for men who have higher incomes than themselves. With such a reference-dependent preference, the pool of preferred men shrinks as women’s income increases, while the pool of competing poorer women expands. For high-income (h-)women, even when high-income (H-)men are more plentiful and richer (as in China), the direct effect of a greater number of desirable men can be overwhelmed by the indirect effect of the competitive “entry” of low-income (l-)women. We test for these competitive effects using online dating field experimental, Census, and China Family Panel Studies data. Consistent with competitive entry, the search intensity of beautiful l-women for H-men increases with the sex ratio and the income of H-men, while that of the plain-looking decreases. Notwithstanding the search intensity of h-women for H-men uniformly increases, their probability of marriage decreases with the sex ratio and men’s income relative to low-income women. The decrease is absolute for of plain-looking high-income women. Our evidence is consistent with intra-female competition for spouses who can cover the labor market opportunity cost of marriage and childbirth, which vary with women’s income.

报告人简介：

David Ong is a professor of economics at Jinan University-University of Birmingham Joint Institute, Guangzhou. He received his Ph.D. from University of California, Davis. His research focuses on experimental and behavioral economics, particularly gender differences in competitiveness and marriage matching. He has published in European Economic Review, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, and Economics Letters. 

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        中山大学岭南学术论坛分经济、金融和管理三个系列，是定期邀请国内外优秀学者前来开展学术交流的平台。每系列每个月定期举办2-3次。目前已经成功举办多期，并得到了各界的高度评价。