Working Papers

Job Market Paper:

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This study constructs a unique nationwide dataset encompassing the familial backgrounds of both brides and grooms during the Qing era. Drawing from Chinese civil examination papers, this research sheds light on marriage dynamics from the late 17th to the 18th centuries in China. It reveals a phenomenon where women had more bargaining power in the marriage market and tended to marry into higher social strata, driven by the unbalanced sex ratio. Strong son preference, discouragement of remarriage, and concubinage contribute to this unbalanced sex ratio. Moreover, the study challenges traditional notions of assortative mating by revealing that marriages were far more assortative than previously believed (0.8 vs. 0.4), emphasising the transmission of advantages among families through marital alliances. The research underscores the pivotal role of marriage in elite perpetuation, particularly in mitigating downward mobility risks. It highlights the significance of selecting families with a higher social status as a strategic move. Furthermore, it underscores the substantial associations among the social standings of father-in-law, groom, and subsequent generations, indicating the role of parentally arranged marriage alliances and affinal support in lineage perpetuation.


Working papers: 

 

Using a new national dataset based on 1608 pedigrees from zhujuan in imperial China between 1618-1854, this paper estimates social mobility by education and occupational attainment in officialdom. It shows that social-economic mobility in pre-modern China was not a simple Markov process, in which both grandfather and lineage had strong correlations with descendants’ outcomes. Under the assumption that unobserved family endowments played a significant role in social status and family persistence, it applies the latent factor model to estimate the generational elasticity for elite families across multiple generations and analyses generational mobility over time. Evidence suggests that the latent factor parameter properly predicts the persistence of elite families compared with the conventional model. It also shows that Imperial China had a lower mobility rate and that mobility patterns were different among groups, with higher generational correlations for the top elite (around 0.7). By investigating the mobility pattern over time and the distinct role of examination and officialdom in maintaining social status, it further argues that the state and the elites had a social contract that satisfied both sides.

Under their 275 years of control, the Manchu emperors worked diligently to ensure the power balance between the Manchus and their Chinese subjects. This paper reveals how the Qing government ensures the Manchus’ vantage using household-level data. By comparing the Bannermen and Han Chinese mobility and marriage patterns, this paper demonstrates that the Bannermen (Baqi group) received significant preferential treatment, making it simpler for them to maintain social status. The Han Chinese and Bannermen had comparable rates of relative intergenerational mobility, but the Bannermen had higher rates of absolute mobility. In addition, bannermen are better able to maintain their social status across generations. Not only did Han Chinese have lower rates of absolute mobility, but they were also more susceptible to generational regression. They must compete fiercely in examinations and in the bureaucracy. Han Chinese therefore utilised marriage as an additional and crucial means of sustaining social status, whereas Bannermen regarded marriage as less significant.


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