Marrying up: field experimental and household survey evidence of competitive search for a taller and richer spouse

Couple’s heights tend to match. However, whether such matching is for the sake of height or the many desirable traits associated with stature (e.g., income) is unclear. We contribute novel experimental and empirical data to identify gender differences in search behavior for mate height and income. We recorded clicks on profiles with randomly assigned height and income information on a major online dating website. These clicks reveal that taller men prefer taller women. By contrast, women not only prefer taller men but also higher income men, permitting the calculation of their willingness to pay (WTP) for mate-height. Surprisingly, short women have the highest WTP for mate-height. We confirm this heterogeneity in preference for mateheight by applying the method of Chiappori et al. (2021) for multidimensional matching to data on married couples. Short early mothers drive these results. Our evidence is consistent with short women attempting to match non-assortatively to increase the height of their children. We contribute to the search and matching literatures with one of the few papers on multidimensional search which integrates directed online search behavior with outcome data on marriages.