An economic model of early marriage

To explain female adolescent marriage patterns around the world, we develop a marriage market

model with asymmetric information about prospective marriage partners, and a noisy signal about the

brideís quality during an engagement. In equilibrium, there is a negative relationship between the age and

perceived quality of women on the marriage market and, consistent with available evidence, older brides

make higher net marriage payments. The model also implies path dependence in the evolution of adolescent

marriage practices over time and persistent e§ects on marriage practices from transitory shocks.

Model simulations show interventions which increase the opportunity cost of early marriage attenuates

the association between bride quality and age, triggering a virtuous cycle of marriage postponement.