Huang, FaliJin, Ginger ZheXu, Lixin Colin2015-02-132015-02-132015-02https://hdl.handle.net/10986/21453Parental involvement in matchmaking may distort the choice of spouse because parents are willing to substitute love for market and household production, which are more sharable between parents and their children. This paper finds supportive evidence in a survey of Chinese couples. In both rural and urban areas, parent matchmaking is associated with less marital harmony between the couple, more submissive wives, and a stronger belief in old age support for the son. In contrast, its association with couple income differs by rural and urban regions, perhaps because of differences in earning opportunities and in the enforcement of the one-child policy. Moreover, parent matchmaking is associated with more children for the couple and lower schooling for wives only in rural areas. Thus, in places with a stronger need for old age support, parents tend to be involved in matchmaking and use it to select submissive daughters-in-law to ensure old age support. The results render support to Becker, Murphy and Spenckuch (2015), who imply that parents would meddle with children's preferences to ensure their commitment to providing old age support.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOADULTSAGEINGAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONCAREGIVERSCHILDHOODDEMOGRAPHYDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT POLICYDIVORCEECONOMIC GROWTHELDERLYEMOTIONAL SUPPORTETHNIC GROUPSFAMILIESFAMILY INCOMEFAMILY MEMBERSFAMILY SIZEFAMILY STRUCTUREFEMALESFERTILITYFEWER YEARS OF EDUCATIONGENDERGENDER NORMSHEALTH INSURANCEHOMEHOUSEHOLD ASSETSHOUSEHOLD CHORESHOUSEHOLD OUTPUTHUMAN CAPITALHUSBANDHUSBANDSINCOME INEQUALITYINHERITANCEINTERGENERATIONAL SUPPORTINVESTMENT IN CHILDRENJOURNAL OF MARRIAGEKIDSKINSHIPLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR SUPPLYLAWSLEGISLATIONLIMITED RESOURCESLOCAL COMMUNITYLOCAL DEVELOPMENTMALESMARRIAGESMARRIED COUPLEMARRIED COUPLESMARRIED WOMANMIGRATIONMINORITYMODERNIZATIONMOTHERNUMBER OF CHILDRENOLD AGEOLDER ADULTSOPPOSITE SEXPARENTAL CONSENTPARENTAL INVOLVEMENTPARENTSPENSIONPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOORPOPULATION COUNCILPOPULATION INSTITUTEPOPULATION STUDIESPROGRESSPROPERTY RIGHTSPUBLIC SUPPORTRESOURCE ALLOCATIONRESPECTRURALRURAL AREASRURAL COUNTERPARTSRURAL HOUSEHOLDSRURAL LABORRURAL REGIONSRURAL RESIDENTSSAVINGSSERVICE PROVIDERSEXSEX RATIOSEX RATIOSSOCIAL NORMSSOCIAL SCIENCESOCIAL SECURITYSOCIAL STRUCTURESOCIAL SUPPORTSPILLOVERSPOUSETRADITIONAL FAMILYTRADITIONAL SOCIETIESTRADITIONAL VALUESURBAN AREASURBAN COUPLESWEDDINGWIFEWILLWIVESWOMANWOMEN'S STATUSYOUNG COUPLEYOUNG MENYOUNG PEOPLE10.1596/1813-9450-7188