This dissertation consists of three empirical studies in labor economics in the con-text of China. In particular, it focuses on human capital (both education and health) and the marriage market.

Chapter 1 studies how investment in human capital responds to land reform experienced at different ages in China. I first introduce a simple model in which investments in human capital and time allocation differ by age. Using county-level variation in the timing of land reform during 1978-1984, I find that early childhood exposure to land reform increases education using multiple measures, and late childhood exposure has a slightly negative impact on the probability of completing middle school. I attribute these effects to changes in the demand side of education and show suggestive evidence tha...[ Read more ]

This dissertation consists of three empirical studies in labor economics in the con-text of China. In particular, it focuses on human capital (both education and health) and the marriage market.

Chapter 1 studies how investment in human capital responds to land reform experienced at different ages in China. I first introduce a simple model in which investments in human capital and time allocation differ by age. Using county-level variation in the timing of land reform during 1978-1984, I find that early childhood exposure to land reform increases education using multiple measures, and late childhood exposure has a slightly negative impact on the probability of completing middle school. I attribute these effects to changes in the demand side of education and show suggestive evidence that land reform affects schooling via three demand-side channels: household income, returns to education, and the opportunity cost of schooling. Larger effects for both treatments are found for girls and children from poor families.

Chapter 2 investigates the influence of social norms in shaping the impact of early life exposure to China's Great Famine on gender inequality. We model how social norms interact with adverse shocks to affect male and female survival chances and influence subsequent human capital investments. The predictions are tested empirically by estimating a difference-in-differences model that combines cohort and regional variation in exposure to the famine with regional variation in the culture of son preference. We find that son preference buffers the negative impact of intrauterine famine shocks on male survival rates but actually reduces gender inequality in health and education.

Chapter 3 is the first to comprehensively examines the influence of trade liberalization on the marriage, spouse quality, and fertility of women using China's accession to WTO as a natural experiment. Exploiting regional variation in the exposure to import tariff cuts, we first document that import tariff reduction improved female labor market conditions relative to males. We find that import tariff cut reduces women's marriage rate and delays their first marriage. It changes assortative mating patterns and leads to improvement in women's spouse quality (education and age) for specific education groups. It also reduces women's number of children. These effects on marriage and fertility are more prominent for high-skilled women.