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Couples, Careers, and Spatial Mobility

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  • Nassal, Lea
  • Paul, Marie

Abstract

We examine the employment and earnings effects of long-distance moves for married couples based on a new administrative data set from Germany. Using difference-in-difference propensity score matching, we estimate the average treatment effect for moving couples while precisely accounting for pre-move employment dynamics. Our results show that men's earnings increase significantly after the move, while women suffer large losses in the first years after the move. We shed light on potential mechanisms and show that spouses' earnings response is driven by men moving to larger, higher paying establishments, whereas women move to smaller, lower paying establishments. We explore effect heterogeneity by spouses' relative earnings before the move and find evidence for gender asymmetries.phonology, Spanish, Argentina, phonemes, variation, resyllabification

Suggested Citation

  • Nassal, Lea & Paul, Marie, 2021. "Couples, Careers, and Spatial Mobility," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242370, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc21:242370
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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