Why does Spousal education matter for earnings? Assortative mating and cross-productivity

Abstract

Spousal education is correlated with earnings for two reasons: crossproductivity between couples and assortative mating. This article empirically disentangles the two effects by using Chinese twins data. We have two innovations: using twins data to control for the unobserved mating effect in our estimations and estimating both current and wedding-time earnings equations. We find that both crossproductivity and mating are important in explaining the current earnings. Although the mating effect exists for both husbands and wives, the cross-productivity effect mainly runs from Chinese husbands to wives. Our findings shed light on the theories of human capital, marriage, and the family. © 2009 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.