Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/316769 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17814
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper revisits the link between education-based marriage market sorting and income inequality. Leveraging Danish administrative data, we develop a novel categorization of "ambition types" that is based on starting wages and wage growth trajectories associated with detailed educational programs. We find a substantial increase in assortative matching by educational ambition over time, and the marriage market explains more than 40% of increasing inequality since 1980. In contrast, sorting trends are flat with the commonly-used educational level categorization. We conclude that the mapping from education to types matters crucially for conclusions about how education-based marriage market sorting contributes to rising income inequality.
Subjects: 
inequality
marital sorting
education
JEL: 
D13
D31
I24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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