  We investigate patterns of assortative matching on risk attitude, using
self-reported (ordinal) data on risk attitudes for males and females within
married couples, from the German Socio-Economic Panel over the period
2004-2012. We apply a novel copula-based bivariate panel ordinal model.
Estimation is in two steps: firstly, a copula-based Markov model is used to
relate the marginal distribution of the response in different time periods,
separately for males and females; secondly, another copula is used to couple
the males' and females' conditional (on the past) distributions. We find
positive dependence, both in the middle of the distribution, and in the joint
tails, and we interpret this as positive assortative matching (PAM). Hence we
reject standard assortative matching theories based on risk-sharing
assumptions, and favour models based on alternative assumptions such as the
ability of agents to control income risk. We also find evidence of
"assimilation"; that is, PAM appearing to increase with years of marriage.
