PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS AND HOUSEHOLD INCOME: TRADING HEIGHT FOR EDUCATION IN THE MARRIAGE MARKET

We analyze to what extent physical attractiveness is related to lifetime economic outcomes through the marriage market, investigating whether individual height and weight affect the probability of marrying with a “high quality partner”, measuring quality with the partner’s educational attainment. Using a large dataset of Italian couples, we find that taller individuals tend to mate with more educated partners (controlling for the former’s educational level and other personal traits). This effect is valid both for males and females, but it is more pronounced for males. These findings are robust to a number of checks.