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Preferences and beliefs in the marriage market for young brides

Author

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  • Abi Adams

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University of Oxford)

  • Alison Andrew

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Institute for Fiscal Studies)

Abstract

Rajasthani women typically leave school early and marry young. We develop a novel discrete choice methodology using hypothetical vignettes to elicit average parental preferences over a daughter’s education and age of marriage, and subjective beliefs about the evolution of her marriage market prospects. We find parents have a strong preference for delaying a daughter’s marriage until eighteen but no further. Conditional on a marriage match, parents place little intrinsic value on a daughter’s education. However, they believe the probability of receiving a good marriage offer increases strongly with a daughter’s education but deteriorates quickly with her age on leaving school.

Suggested Citation

  • Abi Adams & Alison Andrew, 2019. "Preferences and beliefs in the marriage market for young brides," IFS Working Papers W19/05, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:19/05
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    Cited by:

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    2. Augsburg, Britta & Baquero, Juan P. & Gautam, Sanghmitra & Rodriguez-Lesmes, Paul, 2023. "Sanitation and marriage markets in India: Evidence from the Total Sanitation Campaign," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. Calvi, Rossella & Keskar, Ajinkya, 2021. "Dowries, resource allocation, and poverty," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 268-303.
    4. Bhalotra, Sonia & Delavande, Adeline & Font-Gilabert, Paulino & Maselko, Joanna, 2020. "Maternal investments in children: the role of expected effort and returns," ISER Working Paper Series 2020-03, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    5. Adams-Prassl, Abi & Boneva, Teodora & Golin, Marta & Rauh, Christopher, 2023. "Perceived returns to job search," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Romuald Meango, 2023. "Using Probabilistic Stated Preference Analyses to Understand Actual Choices," Papers 2307.13966, arXiv.org.
    7. Lisa Cameron & Diana Contreras Suarez & Susan Wieczkiewicz, 2023. "Child marriage: using the Indonesian family life survey to examine the lives of women and men who married at an early age," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 725-756, September.
    8. Calvi, Rossella & Keskar, Ajinkya, 2021. "'Til Dowry Do Us Part: Bargaining and Violence in Indian Families," CEPR Discussion Papers 15696, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Meango, Romuald & Girsberger, Esther Mirjam, 2024. "Identification of Ex Ante Returns Using Elicited Choice Probabilities: An Application to Preferences for Public-Sector Jobs," IZA Discussion Papers 17174, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Quentin Lippmann & Khushboo Surana, 2022. "The Hierarchy of Partner Preferences," Discussion Papers 22/08, Department of Economics, University of York.
    11. Asiedu, Elizabeth & Azomahou, Théophile T. & Getachew, Yoseph & Yitbarek, Eleni, 2021. "Share the love: Parental bias, women empowerment and intergenerational mobility," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 846-867.
    12. Lippmann, Quentin & Surana, Khushboo, 2025. "The evolution of partner preferences: Evidence using matrimonial ads from Canada, France, India and the United States," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    13. Romuald Meango & Marc Henry & Ismael Mourifie, 2025. "Combining stated and revealed preferences," Papers 2507.13552, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2025.
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    15. repec:ash:wpaper:37 is not listed on IDEAS

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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
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education

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