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Author: McKinnish, Terra
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Mansour, Hani
McKinnish, Terra
Who Marries Differently Aged Spouses? Ability, Education, Occupation, Earnings, and Appearance
Review of Economics and Statistics 96,3 (July 2014): 577-580.
Also: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/REST_a_00377#.V4AKbnrqXNJ
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: MIT Press
Keyword(s): Age and Ageing; Census of Population; Cognitive Ability; Educational Attainment; Marriage; National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth)

In direct contrast to conventional wisdom and most economic models of marital age gaps, we present robust evidence that men and women who are married to differently aged spouses are negatively selected. Empirical results show lower cognitive ability, lower educational attainment, lower occupational wages, lower earnings, and less attractive appearance among those married to a differently aged spouse. These results, obtained using samples of first marriages and controlling for age of marriage, are consistent with a model in which individuals with more schooling and more upwardly mobile occupations interact more heavily with similarly aged peers and are ultimately more likely to marry similarly-aged spouses.
Bibliography Citation
Mansour, Hani and Terra McKinnish. "Who Marries Differently Aged Spouses? Ability, Education, Occupation, Earnings, and Appearance." Review of Economics and Statistics 96,3 (July 2014): 577-580.
2. Mansour, Hani
McKinnish, Terra
Who Marries Differently-Aged Spouses? Earnings, Ability and Appearance
Working Paper Series, SSRN - Social Science Research Network, April 26, 2011.
Also: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1823746
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc.
Keyword(s): Age and Ageing; Census of Population; Cognitive Development; Earnings, Husbands; Earnings, Wives; Gender Differences; Marriage; National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (AddHealth)

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

In direct contrast to conventional wisdom and most economic models of gender differences in age of marriage, we present robust evidence that men and women who are married to differently-aged spouses are negatively selected. Earnings analysis of married couples in the 1970, 1980, 1990 and 2000 Decennial Censuses finds that male earnings decrease with within-couple age difference, regardless of whether the man is older or younger than his wife. In contrast, female earnings increase with within-couple age difference. We argue and present evidence that women in differently-aged couples have higher earnings not because of positive selection, but because their hours of work increase in response to partnering with a lower earning man. We test for negative selection into differently-aged couples using three measures: average earnings per hour in occupation using Census data, cognitive skills assessments from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY79), and measures of physical appearance from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The point estimates indicate negative selection on all of these characteristics, although statistical significance varies by outcome and sample.
Bibliography Citation
Mansour, Hani and Terra McKinnish. "Who Marries Differently-Aged Spouses? Earnings, Ability and Appearance." Working Paper Series, SSRN - Social Science Research Network, April 26, 2011.
3. McKinnish, Terra
Mansour, Hani
Within-Couple Age Differences and Sorting on Earnings
Presented: Washington, DC, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March 31-April 2, 2011. Also:http://paa2011.princeton.edu/iphone/abstractViewer.aspx?submissionId=111067
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Age and Ageing; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Earnings; Earnings, Husbands; Earnings, Wives; Economics of Gender; Marriage

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

We investigate the relationship between within couple age differences and earnings using samples of married couples from the 1970-2000 Decennial Censuses. We find that among married men average earnings decrease with age difference from partner in either direction. Among women the earnings pattern is the exact inverse. Among women earnings increase with age difference in either direction. Our interpretation is that individuals in differently aged couples tend to be negatively selected, but that women respond to such pairings with increased labor market effort. We find some support for our hypothesis in that the higher earnings of women in differently aged couples are not the result of being in higher earning occupations. Additional analysis with the NLSY shows that men and women in differently aged couples on average have lower AFQT scores.
Bibliography Citation
McKinnish, Terra and Hani Mansour. "Within-Couple Age Differences and Sorting on Earnings." Presented: Washington, DC, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March 31-April 2, 2011. Also:http://paa2011.princeton.edu/iphone/abstractViewer.aspx?submissionId=111067.