Immigration and Intermarriage Economic Premium: Evidence from Mainland China Immigrants Inflow in Hong Kong

The study of ethnic intermarriages is important not only because it has profound implications on family formation, but it also has relevance regarding social mobility, societal openness, and intergroup relations. The case of Hong Kong is interesting because it has always been an immigrant society during British rule and after its retrocession. Unlike other countries, its experience can serve as a natural “laboratory” to study the impact of intermarriages without confounding influences due to dissimilar cultural practices. Using representative census and survey data in Hong Kong, I examine whether the intermarriage economic premium exists among mainland immigrants. Based on the difference-in-differences method with propensity score matching, the observed premium not only disappears after controlling for selectivity, there is actually some slight indication of penalty for female and premium for male immigrants, though none are statistically significant. Nevertheless, female immigrants who experienced upward job mobility are more likely to enter intermarriage.