February 2017

IZA DP No. 10556: Marriage Markets in Developing Countries

published in: S.L. Averett, L.M. Argys, S.D. Hoffman (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Women and the Economy, Oxford University Press, 2018

This chapter reviews the literature on marriage in developing countries. We describe how marital matching occurs; the trends in age at marriage; assortative mating patterns; marriage payments; and spousal decision-making after a marriage has occurred. Lastly, we discuss trends and rationales for consanguineous and polygamous marriages – practices that are largely unique to the developing world.