Hypergamy and Cross Border Marriages in South Korea: An Examination of Factors Influencing Flows of Migrant Brides and Grooms from Developing Countries

Main Article Content

Ador Revelar Torneo

Abstract

This study investigates whether cross-border marriages in South Korea follow the logic of hypergamy. It examines whether the factors that affect the number of brides from developing countries also hold true for grooms using a panel regression analysis based on a modified gravity model and macro-national data from 1999-2012. Results show the model accounting for 54% of the variation in the number of foreign brides and 42% of the variation in the number of foreign grooms. In the case of foreign brides, five (5) out of seven (7) variables were statistically significant. The share of women in the population and gender inequality were found to be significant and positive predictors. In the case of foreign grooms, only three (3) out of seven (7) variables were statistically significant. There is limited evidence that marriages involving brides from developing countries are consistent with expectations of hypergamy. There is very limited and weak evidence that marriages involving foreign grooms also follow this trend.

Article Details

How to Cite
Torneo, A. R. (2019). Hypergamy and Cross Border Marriages in South Korea: An Examination of Factors Influencing Flows of Migrant Brides and Grooms from Developing Countries. Journal of Population and Social Studies [JPSS], 28(1), 51–71. Retrieved from https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jpss/article/view/192579
Section
Research Articles
Author Biography

Ador Revelar Torneo, De La Salle University, Philippines

Corresponding author

References

• Abelmann, N., & Kim, H. (2004). A failed attempt at transnational marriage: Maternal citizenship in a globalizing South Korea. In Cross-border marriages: Gender and mobility in transnational Asia (pp. 101-123). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

• Anderson, J. (2010). The gravity model. Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, 3(1), 133-160.

• Borjas, J.G. (1989). Economic theory and international migration. International Migration Review, 23(3), 457-485.

• Constable, N. (2005). Introduction: Cross-border marriages, gendered mobility, and global hypergamy. In N. Constable (Eds.), Cross-Border Marriages. Gender and Mobility in Transnational Asia (pp. 1–16). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

• Crester, G.A., & de Leon, J.J. (1982). Intermarriage in the United States: An overview of theory and research. Marriage & Family Review, 5(1), 3-15.

• Faist, T. (2000). The volume and dynamics of international migration and transnational social spaces. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

• Fan, C.C., & Li, L. (2002). Marriage and migration in transitional China: a field study of Gaozhou, western Guangdong. Environment and Planning A, 34(4), 619-638.

• Fawcett, J.T. (1989). Networks, linkages, and migration systems. International migration review, 23(3), 671-680.

• Freeman, C. (2005). Marrying Up and Marrying Down: The Paradoxes of Marital Mobility for Chosonjok Brides in South Korea. In N. Constable (Eds.), Cross-Border Marriages. Gender and Mobility in Transnational Asia (pp. 80–100). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

• Friedberg, R.M., & Hunt, J. (1995). The impact of immigrants on host country wages, employment and growth. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(2), 23-44.

• Greenwood, M.J. (1985). Human migration: Theory, models, and empirical studies. Journal of Regional Science, 25(4), 521-544.

• Ishii, S. (2016). Marriage Migrants as Multi-Marginalized Transnational Diaspora. In Marriage Migration in Asia. Emerging Minorities at the Frontier of Nation-States (pp. 1–23). Singapore: NUS Press in association with Kyoto University Press, Japan.

• Karemera, D., Oguledo, V.I., & Davis, B. (2000). A gravity model analysis of international migration to North America. Applied Economics, 32(13), 1745-1755.

• Kim, A.E. (2009). Demography, migration and multiculturalism in South Korea. Asia-Pacific Journal, vol.6-2-9. Retrieved August 18, 2014, from http://www.japanfocus.org/-andrew_eungi-kim/3035

• Kim, A.E. (2009). Global migration and South Korea: Foreign workers, foreign brides and the making of a multicultural society. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 32(1), 70–92.

• Kim, D. (2010). The Rise of cross-border marriage and divorce in contemporary Korea. Asia Cross-border Marriage Migration: Demography Patterns and Social Issues, 127-152.

• Kim, H. (March 13-15, 2008). Marriage migration and changing gender-nation relations in South Korea. Unpublished paper presented at the Pacific World in Motion, Green College/St. John's College, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Retrieved from: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc/pcs/Presentations

• Kim, H.M. (2007). The state and migrant women: Diverging hopes in the making of “multicultural families” in contemporary Korea. Korea Journal, 47(4), 100-122.

• Kim, J.K. (2011). The politics of culture in multicultural Korea. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 37(10), 1583-1604.

• Kim, J., Yang, S.B., & Torneo, A. (2014). Marriage migration and multicultural families: Public policies and their implications for the Philippines and South Korea. Asian Politics & Policy, 6(1), 97-119.

• Kim, J., Yang, S.B., & Torneo, A.R. (2012). Marriage migration and gender in South Korea: Accounting for gender disparities in international marriages. Asia-Pacific Social Science Review, 12(2), 14-32.

• Lee, E.S. (1966). A theory of migration. Demography, 3(1), 7-57.

• Lee, H. (2008). International marriage and the state in South Korea: Focusing on governmental policy. Citizenship Studies, 12(1), 107–123.

• Lewer, J.J. & Van den Berg, H. (2007). A gravity model of immigration. Economics Letters, 99(1), 164-167.

• Lim, T.C. (2010). Rethinking belongingness in South Korea: Transnational migration, migrant marriages and the politics of multiculturalism. Pacific Affairs, 83(1), 51–71.

• Massey, D.S., Arango, J., Hugo, G., Kouaouci, A., Pellegrino, A., & Taylor, J.E. (1993). Theories of international migration: a review and appraisal. Population and Development Review, 19(3), 431-466.

• Mayda, A.M. (2010). International migration: A panel data analysis of the determinants of bilateral flows. Journal of Population Economics, 23(4), 1249-1274.

• Ravenstein, E.G. (1885): The laws of migration. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 48 (June).

• Ravenstein, E.G. (1889): The laws of migration. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 52 (June).

• Schans, D. (2012). Against the grain: International marriages between African men and Japanese women. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 21 (3), 365–386.

• Seol, D. (2006). Women marriage immigrants in South Korea: Immigration process and adaptation. Asia-Pacific Forum, 33, 32–59.

• Statistics Korea [Korean Statistical Information Service]. (2016). Marriage and Divorce Statistics: Marriage with Foreigner by Year (1990-2014) (Original data in Korean). Kosis. Retrieved April 13, 2016 from http://kosis.kr/index/index.jsp.

• Tseng, Y. (2010). Marriage migration to East Asia: Current issues and propositions in making comparisons. In W. Yang & M.C. Lu (Eds.), Asian cross-border marriage migration: Demographic patterns and social issues (pp. 31-48). Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

• Todaro, M.P. (1976). Internal migration in developing countries. Geneva: International Labor Office.

• Torneo, A.R. (2016). Immigration policies and the factors of migration from developing countries to South Korea: An empirical analysis. International Migration, 54(3), 139-158.

• Torneo, A.R., & Yang, S.B. (2015). Policy dissonance and the challenges of managing the impacts of South Korea's industrial and demographic transition through immigration. International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 15(1), 95-111.

• Van Den Berghe, P.L. (1960). Hypergamy, hypergenation, and miscegenation. Human Relations, 13(1), 83-91.

• Vogler, M. & Rotte, R. (2000). The effects of development on migration: Theoretical issues and new empirical evidence. Journal of Population Economics, 13(3), 485–508.

• Williams, L. (2010). Global marriage: Cross-border marriage migration in global context. Springer.