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The impacts of the gender imbalance on the marriage market: Evidence from World War II in Japan

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  • Ogasawara, Kota
  • Igarashi, Erika

Abstract

This study uses the unprecedented changes in the sex ratio due to the losses of men during World War II to identify the impacts of the gender imbalance on marriage market outcomes in Japan. Using newly digitized census-based historical statistics, we find evidence that men have a stronger bargaining position in the marriage market than women do. Under the conditions of relative male scarcity, women are less likely to marry. Although the entry of younger cohorts with a natural gender balance into the marriage market attenuated its magnitude, this tendency persisted until the mid-1950s. Widowed women facing male scarcity are particularly unable to remarry. Our results suggest that reinstating military pensions in the early 1950s further reduced their incentive to remarry.

Suggested Citation

  • Ogasawara, Kota & Igarashi, Erika, 2025. "The impacts of the gender imbalance on the marriage market: Evidence from World War II in Japan," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:92:y:2025:i:c:s0927537124001490
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102653
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender imbalance; Institutional change; Marriage market; Military mortality; Second World War; Sex ratio;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • 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
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N35 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Asia including Middle East

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