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Positive Assortative Mating and Spouses as Complementary Factors of Production: A Theory of Labor Augmentation

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  • Paul Gabriel
  • Peter Groothuis

Abstract

This paper develops a model of intellectual labor augmentation to explain both the marriage wage premium and educational assortative mating. We suggest that husbands and wives are complementary factors of production where a spouse’s education and skills augment their partner’s productivity and earnings potential. We test this proposition using data from the 2000 U.S. Census of Population and the 2003 Current Population Survey. Our results indicate that for working couples the marriage premium for husbands and wives is directly related to the education level of their spouses -- suggesting that positive assortative mating may be attributable to the labor market effects of intellectual augmentation of married households.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Gabriel & Peter Groothuis, 2005. "Positive Assortative Mating and Spouses as Complementary Factors of Production: A Theory of Labor Augmentation," Working Papers 05-14, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    • Handle: RePEc:apl:wpaper:05-14
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    1. Cornwell, Christopher & Rupert, Peter, 1997. "Unobservable Individual Effects, Marriage and the Earnings of Young Men," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 285-294, April.
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    6. Reed, W Robert & Harford, Kathleen, 1989. "The Marriage Premium and Compensating Wage Differentials," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 2(4), pages 237-265.
    7. Suen, Wing & Lui, Hon-Kwong, 1999. "A Direct Test of the Efficient Marriage Market Hypothesis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(1), pages 29-46, January.
    8. David Lam, 1988. "Marriage Markets and Assortative Mating with Household Public Goods: Theoretical Results and Empirical Implications," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 23(4), pages 462-487.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sanjaya DeSilva & Mohammed Mehrab Bin Bakhtiar, 2011. "Women, Schooling, and Marriage in Rural Philippines," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_701, Levy Economics Institute.
    2. Nicholas A. Jolly, 2019. "Female Earnings and the Returns to Spousal Education Over Time," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 691-709, December.
    3. Tracy Roberts & Steven Martin, 2010. "Welfare Exit, Marriage, and Welfare Recidivism: A Reevaluation of Patterns of the 1980s and 1990s," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(2), pages 105-125, April.
    4. Colman, Gregory & Dave, Dhaval, 2013. "Exercise, physical activity, and exertion over the business cycle," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 11-20.
    5. Clouston, Sean A.P. & Quesnel-Vallée, Amélie, 2012. "The role of defamilialization in the relationship between partnership and self-rated health: A cross-national comparison of Canada and the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(8), pages 1342-1350.

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