Reducing information asymmetry before marriage: Evidence from South Korea

Abstract

This study examines whether information asymmetry during the matchmaking period affects women's choice of spouse. The 2010 amendment of the Marriage Brokers Business Management Act requiring international marriage brokers in South Korea to provide more information about their South Korean male clients to prospective foreign brides in brokered marriages provided an opportunity to probe this question. Using the National Survey of Multicultural Families 2015, we employed the difference-in-differences method. Following the 2010 amendment, foreign women in brokered marriages were more likely to marry a more-educated Korean man and were less likely to work in low-skilled jobs after marriage.