2007/04/01 by Roland G. Fryer · 4 citations
Social Sciences · #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies #Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics #Migration and Labor Dynamics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1257/jep.21.2.71
openalex publication_date 2007/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/11
This paper studies marriages across black, white, and Asian racial lines. Marrying across racial lines is a rare event, even today. Interracial marriages account for approximately 1 percent of white marriages, 5 percent of black marriages, and 14 percent of Asian marriages. Following a brief history of the regulation of race and romance in America, I analyze interracial marriage using census data from 1880–2000, uncovering a rich set of cross-section and time-series patterns. I investigate the extent to which three different theories of interracial marriage can account for the patterns discovered. After also testing a social exchange theory and a search model, I find the data are most consistent with a Becker-style marriage market model in which objective criteria of a potential spouse, their race, and the social price of intermarriage are central.