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Author: Indika, M.G. Nuwan
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Indika, M.G. Nuwan
Marriage and Wages: An Empirical Analysis for Men
M.A. Thesis, Western Illinois University, December 2013
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
Keyword(s): Earnings, Husbands; Marital Status; Marriage; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Propensity Scores; Wage Differentials; Wage Growth; Wages

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

There is an empirically identified phenomenon that married men have higher wages than unmarried men and a number of explanations are associated with this. A large amount of research literature discusses this estimated wage effect for marriage men. Our meta-analysis of 19 studies and 120 estimates finds that there exists a meaningful impact on wage after control for the publication bias with heterogeneity. Marriage premium accounts as 6.8 percent with the evidence of publication bias after applying descriptive statistics, funnel graph, simple meta-regression analysis (MRA), and multiple MRAs of 120 estimated coefficients. Also this analysis identifies omitted variable bias as another important aspect for explaining this widespread empirical literature. Secondly, this paper provides an empirical study for the marriage wage premium for men in the U.S., using the propensity score matching method for selection on observable attributes and Heckman's conditional difference-in-difference model for selection on unobservable attributes. The data for this analysis of the marriage premium used a shifting panel design for marriages between 1980 and 1992, as well as 1994 through 2008. This analysis examines data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) from 1979 to 2010 and focuses on men one year after marriage as well as two years after marriage. Our results prove the selection hypothesis that men with higher earnings are more likely to get married and the significant marriage premium accounts for 6.4 percent and 7.4 percent of observed factors for two type periods, respectively. Moreover, the wage-related characteristics for men within this study indicate a positive selection for marriage within a 3-year panel window while rejecting the selection hypothesis for the 5-year panel window. Finally, the conditional difference-in-difference model shows the existence of a significant marriage premium. Thus, the research identified that men earn a marriage premium and t he differential wage growth with the existence of time invariant unobserved heterogeneity (and time variant unobserved heterogeneity). This suggests such men are attractive in the labor market and as a spouse in the marriage market. Also, the fixed effect estimation proves the existence of specialization hypothesis.
Bibliography Citation
Indika, M.G. Nuwan. Marriage and Wages: An Empirical Analysis for Men. M.A. Thesis, Western Illinois University, December 2013.