On November 30th, Professor Doo-sub Kim of Hanyang University, South Korea, also the president of the Asian Population Association, visited the Asian Demographic Research Institute (ADRI) at Shanghai University. Professor Kim has published 43 books and monographs and 147 journal articles and book chapters. Some of his latest publications focus on foreign residents in Korea, international marriage of Koreans, and adaptation by foreign spouses.
At ADRI, Professor Kim gave a talk on “Spousal Differences in Age and Education and Marital Dissolution among Transnational Couples in South Korea, 2004-2014.” The event was hosted by Professor Leiwen Jiang, director of ADRI. During the presentation, Professor Kim discussed whether age and educational dissimilarity between spouses help explain variations in duration of marriage and the risk of divorce. Particularly, he emphasized incorporating the direction of spousal difference in age and education into the analysis. He argued that differentials in duration of marriage according to the country of origin of the foreign spouse are reduced significantly when the effects of spousal dissimilarity are controlled for.
After the presentation, there was a discussion among participants about how divorce costs affect marriage dissolution. Professor Kim also gave a further explanation of the mechanisms of marital dissolution, while comparing the results of regression and logistic analyses, to help students better understand indicators of marital duration and probability of divorce.
Professor Kim’s visit was also the occasion for him to formally join the faculty at ADRI. At the end of the meeting, Professor Jiang awarded an adjunct professorship to Professor Kim.
