Full Citation

Title: Dual Earner Migration Patterns: The Role of Locational Compatibility within Households

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2018

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI:

NSFID:

PMCID:

PMID:

Abstract: In this paper, I analyze how locational compatibility of married couples' occupations affect their household migration decisions. I find that if spouses' careers are concentrated in similar locations or if spouses have similar preferred locations, they are more likely to both earn more and move more. I then build a structural model in which households decide whether to move as a function of occupation-location match and individual location preference shocks. I estimate the model using full information maximum likelihood with data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, with separate estimation for households with married couples and for households with individuals. Using this model, I show that migration costs vary across occupation groups, with those in occupations that are more locationally disperse having lower migration costs. I then use the parameters estimates from model to show that differences in migration rates across household types is strongly associated with mismatch in locational preferences across couples by testing a counterfactual in which I match individuals to a spouse in their same occupation. Finally, I estimate the effects of a relocation incentive policy on migration rates and demonstrate that models which ignore family ties will overestimate the effects of such a policy.

Url: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ae2f/d3f32e7d2b57010f754b0e1cc1e079159b9f.pdf

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Venator, Joanna

Publisher:

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Migration and Immigration

Countries: United States