Research

Working papers

Single by Choice or Rejection? Evidence on Mating Preferences in China. (Job Market Paper) Draft.

In China, the marriage rate increases with education for men but decreases for women. However, we observe positive assortative matching, as in most countries. This pattern is inconsistent with some simple models of marital matching. If there were strict educational homogamy, highly educated women would have high marriage rates because they would be on the short side of the market. If everyone preferred the most skilled mate, low-education men but not high-education women would have low marriage rates. If women preferred high-skill spouses but men preferred low-skill spouses, we would not observe positive assortative mating.

In this paper, I ask what preferences can explain the observed mating pattern for individuals born between 1972 and 1975. I allow their utility from marrying to depend on their education and their spouse’s education. The utility function allows for a discrete jump and different slope if the wife’s education exceeds the husband’s. In addition, each person has an idiosyncratic preference for each potential spouse. I assume utility is nontransferable and solve the equilibrium assuming a deferred acceptance algorithm.

I find that men, particularly those with low education, are strongly averse to marrying more educated women. In contrast, women’s preferences with respect to their spouse’s education are more or less flat. The model fits the high single rate among low-education men and high-education women. Moreover, when I predict earlier cohorts’ marriage rates, I closely fit the pattern for low-education men but not high-education women. This suggests that some important change in tastes or matching technology played a significant role in the decrease in marriage among these women.

The impacts of population mobility controls on housing prices: Evidence from the 2014 household registration reform in China. Draft.

The household registration system (Hukou system) in China largely restricts individuals’ access to the social welfare system outside their hometown. This makes it costly and inconvenient for migrants to live in the receiving cities. Most migrants do not consider purchasing a house where they work if they cannot obtain local Hukou. In this paper, I study the effects of a 2014 Hukou reform on urban housing prices. The reform significantly relaxed the registration system, making it more feasible for migrants to purchase housing. Using housing data at the apartment complex level, I find that the reform increased prices of lower-quality residential properties while lowering those of higher quality. This is consistent with prior findings that more migrant workers move to places where controls are relaxed, which spurs demand for basic housing but may suggest some native flight at the upper end.

Work in progress

Network job and worker benefits of rural urban migrants in China. Draft available upon request.

Despite the rise in rural-urban migration since the 1980s, many migrants remain unaware of or are denied labor benefits to which they are entitled. The lack of transparency about worker benefits and the high mobility of the migrant workforce may exacerbate this situation. Using Chinese rural-urban migration data, this paper studies whether jobs obtained through social networks provide better worker benefits. My results suggest that network jobs tend to be associated with worse benefits. I discuss the potential explanations for this pattern. Furthermore, I find that migrants’ decision to stay in urban areas is influenced more by housing benefits than other forms of worker benefits.