March
28

Hybrid Format

Why does Educational Homogamy Not Contribute to the Increase in Between-family Income Inequality?

Guanghui Pan
Laboratory of Population Health, March 28, 2023

Guanghui Pan from the University of Oxford gives a talk.

Abstract

The increase in educational homogamy should have contributed to the rise in between-household inequality, especially during the higher education expansion. However, empirical results find that an increase in educational homogamy mitigates or has no effect on enlargement. With individual-level analysis, this talk uses PSID data and simulates the marginal distribution of spouses' education under different counterfactual scenarios (all higher educated, all non-higher educated, all homogamy, all heterogamy, and other cohorts' marginal distribution).

Guanghui Pan argues that education only serves as a "door knocker," while the determinants for matching are assortative preferences and latent traits like ability and family background. The conclusion corresponds to the "effective maintained inequality" (EMI) theory in education, suggesting even though education expansion provides opportunities for students who could not have entered before, they still fall short of income attainment through marriage.

Register to Take Part

You would like to attend the Online Seminar Talk? You are very welcome. Please register by writing an e-mail to office-myrskyla@demogr.mpg.de.

Online Seminar Talk, March 28th from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (Rostock time)

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.