title: Comparing the role of the height of men and women in the marriage market.
abstract: This paper explores how the role of men and women's height in the marriage market has changed across generations. Using individual-level data from Japan, we compared the effect of height on marriages between men and women, and investigated how the effect of height on marriage has changed across generations. Our key findings are: (1) for men born before 1965, a 1% increase in height led to an approximately 0.56% increase in the probability of being married. Conversely, for women born before 1965, a 1% increase in height led to an approximately 0.56% decrease in the probability of being married. (2) For men born in or after 1965, a 1% increase in height led to an approximately 1.05% (0.18%) increase (decrease) in the probability of being married (divorced). However, the height effect was not present for women. Japan experienced astounding economic development after World War II, which resulted in changes in its economic and social structure. These changes may have also altered the role of height for Japanese men and women in the marriage market.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Seinan Gakuin University, 6-2-92 Nishijin, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka 814-8511, Japan. Electronic address: yamaei@seinan-gu.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yamamura
authors.affiliation: Konan University, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsutsui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Height; Marriage market; Preference change