Grover, Minali
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8941-5066 and Sharma, Ajay
(2026)
Migration and educational assortative mating in India: how geographic mobility shapes marriage markets.
Review of Economics of the Household.
ISSN 1569-5239
(In Press)
Abstract
This paper examines how internal migration influences educational assortative mating patterns in India using Periodic Labour Force Survey data (2020-21). We analyze the association of migrant status and type of assortative mating, that is whether migrants are more likely to engage in homogamous (similar education) or heterogamous (different education) marriages compared to non-migrants. Results show migrants are significantly more likely to form educationally heterogamous marriages, with urban-to-urban migrants particularly prone to hypogamy (marrying higher-educated partners). These findings are validated using instrumental variables including crime rates, migrant networks, and unemployment rates. Family structure and marriage pool composition emerge as key mechanisms driving educational heterogamy among migrants, suggesting migration fundamentally alters marital formation preferences away from traditional educational homogamy patterns.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Internal migration | Assortative mating | India | Heterogamy | Education |
| Subjects: | Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Social Sciences (General) Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Sociology Social Sciences and humanities > Social Sciences > Demography |
| Divisions: | Jindal Global Business School |
| Depositing User: | Mrs Tulika Kumar |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Mar 2026 06:48 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Mar 2026 09:55 |
| Official URL: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-026-09836-2 |
| URI: | https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/11014 |
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