Research

Abstract: This paper examines how location characteristics enter into the marriage decision, with a focus on differences between rural and urban locations and between economic activity. Using a structural matching model and data from Indonesia, I estimate utilities of matching and staying at home, migrating together, and marrying someone from another market. I find that couples migrating together face utility losses compared to those staying at home, and that urban destinations are typically preferred by migrants, both joint and independent. By simulating a marriage market in which joint migration becomes less costly, I quantify the substitution between joint migration and marriage migration. The results show that mixed marriages in urban locations are most responsive, primarily driven by rural couples forming at home and migrating together. On the other hand, restricting joint migration increases mixed marriages in urban destinations by up to 17 percentage points.

(with Frederic Docquier, Michel Tenikue, and Aleksa Uljarevic)

Abstract: We study the factors that shape attitudes toward immigration in Luxembourg, a wealthy country with a long history of immigration, where 74% of the population has a foreign background. Overall, a large majority of respondents acknowledge that immigration enriches national identity and has a positive impact on the economy. These attitudes are shaped by characteristics such as age, education and foreign background. Pro-immigration attitudes are stronger among second-generation immigrants and even more pronounced among first-generation immigrants from Portugal, neighboring and non-European countries. In addition, we find that the total share of immigrants in the immediate neighborhood does not significantly influence attitudes towards the economic and identitarian implications of immigration. However, local exposure to immigration influences natives’ perceptions of the optimal level of immigration. We provide suggestive evidence that the latter effect is largely driven by recent inflows of non-European immigrants, indicating that acceptance of diversity and multiculturalism might take time.

(with Michel Tenikue and Camila Pineda Leon)

Abstract: This paper explores the role of rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa on interethnic marriage, a measure of social cohesion. We exploit cross-country data from the Demographic Health Surveys and link them to urbanization on the local level using standardized geodata from the Global Human Settlements project. Comparing marriages within the same locality at different levels of urbanization, we find that urbanization has a robust positive effect on intermarriage, increasing in magnitude with the degree of urbanization. We then explore potential mechanisms using a matching model that allows for trade-offs between spousal education and ethnicity in urban and rural marriage markets.

Draft available soon.