A structural approach is used to examine who matches with whom. A two-sided matching model that allows for marital sorting in response to marriage market flexibility and agents' preferences is utilized. Estimation is based on imbedding the numerical solution of a matching model within a maximum...

This article examines whether the Mortensen-Pissarides matching model with productivity changes can explain the time pattern of wage inequality. The main finding is that the model produces counterfactual results. The main source of failure seems to be the exogenous matching function and/or the...

This paper studies the role of the mating taboo (distaste for intermarriage) in explaining the narrowing mean wage gaps between intermarried and intramarried black men. A search framework is extended to incorporate agents' races. To offset the mating taboo, agents who intermarry raise selection...

Only 5.5% of black males married white females in 1990, and the family-income premium for intermarried black males was 7%. This article estimates the impact of the mating taboo, courting opportunities, and individual endowments on the black male marriage market. Results indicate that eliminating...