Gender imbalance, assortative matching, and household income inequality in China
Gender imbalance, assortative matching, and household income inequality in China
This paper studies the effect of gender imbalance on assortative matching and household income inequality. Using data across prefectures in China, we show that a higher sex ratio in the marriage market is negatively associated with both assortative marriage and household income inequality. Motivated by empirical evidence, we develop a heterogeneous-agent model to study the mechanism behind the pattern. The quantitative results of the model match the empirical evidence: a higher sex ratio is associated with a lower degree of assortative matching, which leads to a decrease in household income inequality. When we allow men and women to choose their level of education endogenously before entering the marriage market, we find that a higher sex ratio leads to a higher level of education investment among both men and women, with men investing more significantly than women.
Huang, Chen
eb0d6107-8f91-4503-abf6-06623606e428
Stepanchuk, Serhiy
ab625a3a-3db4-411f-90a4-1a2d2f9a0b17
22 December 2025
Huang, Chen
eb0d6107-8f91-4503-abf6-06623606e428
Stepanchuk, Serhiy
ab625a3a-3db4-411f-90a4-1a2d2f9a0b17
Huang, Chen and Stepanchuk, Serhiy
(2025)
Gender imbalance, assortative matching, and household income inequality in China.
Macroeconomic Dynamics, 29, [e166].
(doi:10.1017/S1365100525100709).
Abstract
This paper studies the effect of gender imbalance on assortative matching and household income inequality. Using data across prefectures in China, we show that a higher sex ratio in the marriage market is negatively associated with both assortative marriage and household income inequality. Motivated by empirical evidence, we develop a heterogeneous-agent model to study the mechanism behind the pattern. The quantitative results of the model match the empirical evidence: a higher sex ratio is associated with a lower degree of assortative matching, which leads to a decrease in household income inequality. When we allow men and women to choose their level of education endogenously before entering the marriage market, we find that a higher sex ratio leads to a higher level of education investment among both men and women, with men investing more significantly than women.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 22 December 2025
Published date: 22 December 2025
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Local EPrints ID: 509442
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509442
ISSN: 1365-1005
PURE UUID: 22542147-a3a4-476a-931c-5613cacc6b70
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Date deposited: 23 Feb 2026 17:43
Last modified: 23 Feb 2026 17:44
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Chen Huang
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