The economics of exogamous marriage in small‐scale societies

Economic Inquiry • Vol/Iss. 54(4) • Wiley Periodicals, Inc. • • Published In • Pages: 1805-1823 •
By Dow, Gregory K., Reed, Clyde G., Woodcock, Simon

Abstract

The authors develop and empirically test a model in which exogamy is negatively predicted by community size, due to decreasing heterogeneity from endogenous marriages in small settlements, and positively predicted by disparity in productivity between communities which is 'smoothed out' by transfer of community members through exogamous marriages. Support for both predictions is found, which is used to argue that cultural traits like marriage customs are heavily influenced by population-environment relationships.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Standard Cross Cultural Sample (SCCS)Murdock & White (1969)n = 82 (Restricted to societies without slavery or missing data)

Hypotheses (2)

HypothesisSupported
Rate of exogamy will be positively associated with disparities in productivity between the two residence sites. (1807)Supported
Rate of exogamy will be negatively associated with community size. (1807)Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: jack.dunnington