The value of male height in the marriage market

Abstract

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Analyzing the Indonesian Family Life Survey 2007, this paper estimates the value of relative height (relative to the spouse's height) in the marriage market of a developing country. The results indicate that the value of a 1 cm reduction in the husband's height relative to his wife's height is about 3% of his earnings. 3% of the mean of yearly earnings amounts to Rp. 492,000 or US$54 in 2007. That value is reduced to 1% when earnings-generating attributes are controlled for. This difference of 2% points can be considered the value that women attach to their husbands' earnings-generating attributes; meanwhile, the remaining 1% suggests that there are still other attributes that women look for in male height.