Why economics and online dating are a good match

Those who have been on the digital dating circuit know how transactional online romance can be. In fact, it’s so transactional that it’s a great economics lesson, one Stanford professor says.

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“In economics terms, online dating is one big game of hidden information and ‘statistical discrimination,’ ” Paul Oyer, who teaches economics at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, told the New York Times.

Oyer penned Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating after meeting his partner on the Internet.

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He also answered questions from Times readers. He counseled one to go to a “thick” market, which has more options. In the online dating world, that means going to the site with as many users as possible.

He also suggested that another reader gloss over some of her less-appealing traits to boost her chances of getting a date, because the market assumes some dishonesty.

Read more here.

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Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.