Assortative Mating on Education: A Genetic Assessment∗

We combine an instrumental variables approach –exploiting genetic variation in polygenic scores and controlling for population stratification– with a stochastic linear bi-dimensional matching model –which allows us to test the validity of the exclusion restriction. Individuals match on an additive index of overall marital attractiveness which has two components: an observable component (education) and a non-observable component (anything else) to the econometrician. The model allows us to investigate whether exogenous shocks to the observable component satisfy the exclusion restriction, and if so, use them to identify the degree of assortative mating on the observable component. Using data from the Health Retirement Study, we find that polygenic scores satisfy the exclusion restriction and are relevant instruments, and cannot reject that the (estimated) degree of assortative mating on education is the same using OLS and IV. Our study illustrates how to combine quasi-experimental variation in spouses’ characteristics with parsimonious matching models to investigate assortative mating. JEL Classification Codes : D1, J1, J12.