by
Xiaoyu Xia, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Friday, January 8, 2016 | 2:00pm-3:30pm | Room 335, HSBC Business School Building
Abstract
How do people in a romantic matching situation choose a potential partner? We study this question in a new model of matching under search frictions, which we calibrate using data from an existing speed dating experiment. Using a subjective measure of overall attraction, we find that attraction is mostly in the eye of the beholder: only one quarter of the variation is agreed-upon between different raters. The attraction between two potential partners has a tendency to be mutual. When calibrated to these preferences, the search model predicts rejection rates, matching rates, and sorting outcomes that fit the data very well. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that people in a romantic matching situation act strategically and are at least implicitly aware of the nature of the frictions and of the strategic equilibrium.
