Explaining inter-ethnic marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa

Bandyopadhyay, Sanghamitra and Green, Elliott D. (2021) Explaining inter-ethnic marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of International Development, 33 (4). 627 - 643. ISSN 0954-1748

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Abstract

We use Demographic and Health Survey data to undertake the largest ever examination into the causes of inter-ethnic marriage in contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa and document a number of novel findings. First, we show that inter-ethnic marriage rates are high, at 19.4% on average, vary significantly across countries, and are rising over time. Second, we show that individual variables associated with modernization such as urbanization, literacy/education, and declines in polygamy and agricultural employment are correlated with inter-ethnic marriage. Third, we show that inter-ethnic marriage is quadratically correlated with ethnic group size and negatively correlated with both educational homogamy and country-population size.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10991328
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	International Development
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Date Deposited:	12 Feb 2021 11:33
Last Modified:	20 Sep 2025 01:59
URI:	http://eprintstest.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/108657

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