Claims about polygyny

The title of this piece is “High rates of polygyny do not lock large proportions of men out of the marriage market.”  I believe further investigation is warranted before drawing such conclusions, but here is the abstract:

Social scientists often assume that when men can marry multiple wives (polygyny), many other men will be unable to marry. Versions of this assumption feature prominently in theories of civil war, the evolution of monogamy, and the incel movement. Using census data from 30 countries across Africa, Asia, and Oceania, as well as data from the historical United States, we find no clear evidence that polygyny is associated with higher proportions of unmarried men in society. Instead, high-polygyny populations often have marriage markets skewed in favor of men, and actually, men in high-polygyny populations usually marry more than men in low-polygyny ones. These findings challenge entrenched assumptions and inform debates on marriage systems, societal stability, and human rights.

That is from a recent paper by Hampton Gaddy, Rebecca Sear, and Laura Fortunato.  At the very least, you hear the contrary story so often, and without firm documentation, that it is worth shaking the debate here a little bit.