Too many men, too-short lives: The effect of the male-biased sex ratio on mortality
Using a natural experiment in Taiwan, this paper shows that, for men, exposure to male-biased sex ratios at a marriageable age is associated with a greater likelihood of death in later life. In the late 1940s, over half a million soldiers from mainland China retreated to Taiwan after a civil war and...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
University of Wisconsin Press
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139953 |
| _version_ | 1855541584415686656 |
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| author | Chang, Simon Kan, Kamhon Zhang, Xiaobo |
| author_browse | Chang, Simon Kan, Kamhon Zhang, Xiaobo |
| author_facet | Chang, Simon Kan, Kamhon Zhang, Xiaobo |
| author_sort | Chang, Simon |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Using a natural experiment in Taiwan, this paper shows that, for men, exposure to male-biased sex ratios at a marriageable age is associated with a greater likelihood of death in later life. In the late 1940s, over half a million soldiers from mainland China retreated to Taiwan after a civil war and were initially subjected to a marriage ban. When the ban was lifted in 1959, the great influx of mostly male soldiers into the marriage market suddenly tipped the balance in favor of women. We have found that men subjected to this massive marriage market squeeze exhibited higher mortality rates at ages 50-64. We offer several possible explanations. Surprisingly, an elevated mortality rate, albeit of a much smaller magnitude, was also observed among the women of the relevant age groups. We show that this is likely driven by the widowhood effect—women’s mortality rate increased after their husbands’ deaths. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace139953 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | University of Wisconsin Press |
| publisherStr | University of Wisconsin Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1399532025-10-26T13:01:12Z Too many men, too-short lives: The effect of the male-biased sex ratio on mortality Chang, Simon Kan, Kamhon Zhang, Xiaobo marriage gender mortality men women Using a natural experiment in Taiwan, this paper shows that, for men, exposure to male-biased sex ratios at a marriageable age is associated with a greater likelihood of death in later life. In the late 1940s, over half a million soldiers from mainland China retreated to Taiwan after a civil war and were initially subjected to a marriage ban. When the ban was lifted in 1959, the great influx of mostly male soldiers into the marriage market suddenly tipped the balance in favor of women. We have found that men subjected to this massive marriage market squeeze exhibited higher mortality rates at ages 50-64. We offer several possible explanations. Surprisingly, an elevated mortality rate, albeit of a much smaller magnitude, was also observed among the women of the relevant age groups. We show that this is likely driven by the widowhood effect—women’s mortality rate increased after their husbands’ deaths. 2024-03 2024-03-13T14:53:56Z 2024-03-13T14:53:56Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139953 en Open Access University of Wisconsin Press Chang, Simon; Kan, Kamhon; and Zhang, Xiaobo. Too many men, too-short lives: The effect of the male-biased sex ratio on mortality. 2024. Journal of Human Resources 59(2): 604-626. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0420-10845R3 |
| spellingShingle | marriage gender mortality men women Chang, Simon Kan, Kamhon Zhang, Xiaobo Too many men, too-short lives: The effect of the male-biased sex ratio on mortality |
| title | Too many men, too-short lives: The effect of the male-biased sex ratio on mortality |
| title_full | Too many men, too-short lives: The effect of the male-biased sex ratio on mortality |
| title_fullStr | Too many men, too-short lives: The effect of the male-biased sex ratio on mortality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Too many men, too-short lives: The effect of the male-biased sex ratio on mortality |
| title_short | Too many men, too-short lives: The effect of the male-biased sex ratio on mortality |
| title_sort | too many men too short lives the effect of the male biased sex ratio on mortality |
| topic | marriage gender mortality men women |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139953 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT changsimon toomanymentooshortlivestheeffectofthemalebiasedsexratioonmortality AT kankamhon toomanymentooshortlivestheeffectofthemalebiasedsexratioonmortality AT zhangxiaobo toomanymentooshortlivestheeffectofthemalebiasedsexratioonmortality |