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Brides For Sale: Cross-Border Marriages And Female Immigration

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  • Daiji Kawaguchi
  • Soohyung Lee

Abstract

Every year, a large number of women immigrate as brides from developing countries to developed countries in East Asia. This phenomenon virtually did not exist in the early 1990s, but foreign brides currently comprise 4 to 35 percent of newlyweds in these developed Asian countries. This paper argues that two factors account for this rapid increase in "bride importation": the rapid growth of women's educational attainment and a cultural norm that leads to a low net surplus of marriage for educated women. We provide empirical evidence supporting our theoretical model and its implications, using datasets from Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
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Suggested Citation

  • Daiji Kawaguchi & Soohyung Lee, 2017. "Brides For Sale: Cross-Border Marriages And Female Immigration," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(2), pages 633-654, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:55:y:2017:i:2:p:633-654
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecin.12411
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    Cited by:

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    2. Scott Fulford, 2012. "The Puzzle of Marriage Migration in India," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 820, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 22 Oct 2013.
    3. Marianne Bertrand & Patricia Cortés & Claudia Olivetti & Jessica Pan, 2016. "Social Norms, Labor Market Opportunities, and the Marriage Gap for Skilled Women," NBER Working Papers 22015, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Redpath, Connor, 2022. "Spousal Visa Policy and Mixed-Citizenship Couples: Evidence from the End of the Defense Of Marriage Act," SocArXiv mzuwe, Center for Open Science.
    5. So Yoon Ahn, 2021. "Matching across Markets: An Economic Analysis of Cross-Border Marriage," Working Papers 2021-047, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    6. Jisoo Hwang, 2016. "Housewife, “gold miss,” and equal: the evolution of educated women’s role in Asia and the U.S," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(2), pages 529-570, April.
    7. Shu-Chu Yang & Ching-Min Chang, 2017. "Transnational Marriage In Taiwan: Challenges Faced And Adaptation Strategies Adopted In Experiencing A Different Culture," International Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Dr. Mohammad Hamad Al-khresheh, vol. 3(4), pages 142-147.
    8. Dziadula, Eva & Zavodny, Madeline, 2023. "Finding Love Abroad: Who Marries a Migrant and What Do They Gain?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1334, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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