The value of male height in the marriage market

- This paper estimates the value of relative height in the marriage market of a developing country.
- The value of a 1 cm of reduction in the husband's height relative to his wife's height is about 3% of his earnings.
- That value is reduced to 1% when earnings generating attributes are controlled for.
- The remaining 1% suggests that resourcefulness is not the only trait that women look for in male height.

Analyzing the Indonesian Family Life Survey 2007, this paper estimates the value of relative height (relative to the spouse's height) in the marriage market of a developing country. The results indicate that the value of a 1 cm reduction in the husband's height relative to his wife's height is about 3% of his earnings. 3% of the mean of yearly earnings amounts to Rp. 492,000 or US$54 in 2007. That value is reduced to 1% when earnings-generating attributes are controlled for. This difference of 2% points can be considered the value that women attach to their husbands' earnings-generating attributes; meanwhile, the remaining 1% suggests that there are still other attributes that women look for in male height.