Sexual freedom and family ties: Evidence from China's ethnic minorities

Abstract

In a culture with a high degree of sexual freedom, an individual is less likely to know who his male ancestors are, thereby leading to loose family links. We establish an inverse relationship between sexual freedom and family ties using individual survey and minority‐level data from China. By employing traditional minority‐level marriage customs and labour intensity to instrument for contemporary individual attitudes towards sexual freedom, the two‐stage least‐squares estimates confirm the causal relationship between sexual freedom and family ties. Moreover, loose family ties tend to result in limited trust among family members and more reliance on contracts rather than blood relations when engaging in business with relatives. We confirm the hypothesis using individual survey and minority‐level data.