We find that the institution of adoption was the major heirship strategy for these households. The probability of adoption varied by the differential number of surviving siblings, and by economic status, thereby creating social mobility among them. Adoption was an important way to redistribute sons, benefitting households with and without sons and preventing household extinction. This article examines the relationship between economic and socio-demographic variables and male marriage patterns in 144 rural villages of Jurong county, Jiangsu province, China, in 1933. While marriage for females is young and universal, the incidence of male marriage varies greatly across villages, a variability that is consistent with an economic view of marriage.
Marriage is associated with farm ownership, land quality and male literacy.
The demographic context, as measured by the sex ratio of the marriageable population, is also important. High sex ratios in Jurong produce a chronic marriage squeeze for males. These ratios also correspond to the economic conditions of a locale. Fluctuations in size have been mainly induced by variations in the age distribution following the process of the demographic transition. In conclusion, this evolution is evaluated in the light of the current demographic as well as anthropological literature.