Marriage Market Responses in the Wake of a Natural Disaster in India

This article examines the impact of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake on age at marriage and other marital matching outcomes. Using the 2004–2005 wave of the India Human Development Survey and employing a difference-in-differences strategy, we document that the earthquake reduced the age at marriage for both men and women and decreased the likelihood of women marrying into wealthier households. Additionally, we find no changes in matching by educational status or in the likelihood of intra-caste and within-village marriages. The age-at-marriage results are driven by districts that were severely affected by the earthquake in terms of deaths and destruction. We provide suggestive evidence that the negative economic shock induced by the earthquake pushed parents to marry off their daughters early to save on dowry expenditures. Overall, our results highlight how the institution of marriage can induce long-lasting demographic changes after a natural disaster.