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Marriage Market Responses in the Wake of a Natural Disaster in India

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  • Shreyasee Das
  • Shatanjaya Dasgupta

Abstract

This article examines the impact of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake on age at marriage and other marital matching outcomes. Using the 2004–2005 wave of the India Human Development Survey and employing a difference-in-differences strategy, we document that the earthquake reduced the age at marriage for both men and women and decreased the likelihood of women marrying into wealthier households. Additionally, we find no changes in matching by educational status or in the likelihood of intra-caste and within-village marriages. The age-at-marriage results are driven by districts that were severely affected by the earthquake in terms of deaths and destruction. We provide suggestive evidence that the negative economic shock induced by the earthquake pushed parents to marry off their daughters early to save on dowry expenditures. Overall, our results highlight how the institution of marriage can induce long-lasting demographic changes after a natural disaster.

Suggested Citation

  • Shreyasee Das & Shatanjaya Dasgupta, 2025. "Marriage Market Responses in the Wake of a Natural Disaster in India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 20(1), pages 31-57, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:soudev:v:20:y:2025:i:1:p:31-57
    DOI: 10.1177/09731741241310652
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    2. Shreyasee Das & Shatanjaya Dasgupta, 2023. "Hidden costs of industrial disasters: Marriage market consequences of the Bhopal Gas Disaster," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 43(2), pages 813-829.
    3. Madhulika Khanna & Nishtha Kochhar, 2023. "Do marriage markets respond to a natural disaster? The impact of flooding of the Kosi river in India," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 2241-2276, October.
    4. Bansak, Cynthia & Pearlman, Sarah, 2021. "Endogamous Marriage among Immigrant Groups: The Impact of Deportations under Secure Communities," GLO Discussion Paper Series 756, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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