Marry to rubber? An investigation on the matrilocal residence of smallholder rubber farmers in southwest China

This paper constructs a simple model of matrilocal residence with the heterogeneities in family labor and resource endowments of the wives households. Using the data collected from a comprehensive household survey of small-scale rubber farmers in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Southwest China, the empirical results suggest that the economic factors go beyond the traditional custom of the Dai women and determine a woman's decision to be a matrilocal residence. The labor shortage of a woman s household may foster the incidence of matrilocal residence, while a woman whose natal household possesses more rubber plantations has a higher probability of matrilocal residence. The results confirm that in the presence of labor constraint and resource heterogeneity, a higher labor demand of a household and possessing more location-specific resource may increase the likelihood of matrilocal residence of female family members after marriage. The findings complement the literature regarding matrilocal residence in a community with disequilibrium distribution of the location-specific resources. Acknowledgement : Acknowledgements: This study is conducted in the framework of the Sino-German SURUMER Project , funded by the Bundesministerium f r Wissenschaft, Technologie und Forschung (BMBF), FKZ: 01LL0919. We also acknowledge funding supports provided by National Natural Sciences of China (71673008; 71742002).