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

Hypothesis

Rate of exogamy will be positively associated with disparities in productivity between the two residence sites. (1807)

Note

Site productivity is measured by coefficient of variation of annual rainfall (high variation indicating low productivity). All other variables listed below were controlled for.

Test

Test NameSupportSignificanceCoefficientTail
Two-stage Least Squares (2SLS) regressionSupportedp < 0.001UNKNOWNUNKNOWN

Variables

Variable NameVariable Type OCM Term(s)
Community SizeIndependentSettlement Patterns
ExogamyDependentRegulation Of Marriage
Fixity Of SettlementIndependentSettlement Patterns
Food StorageIndependentPreservation And Storage Of Food
Mean Annual RainfallIndependentClimate
Mean Annual Temperature (mat)IndependentClimate
Population GrowthIndependentPopulation
RegionIndependentTopography And Geology
Social StratificationIndependentClasses
Subsistence ActivityIndependentDiet
Variation in Annual RainfallIndependentClimate
Territory GrowthIndependentSettlement Patterns