The tied-mover hypothesis reconsidered : effects of household migration on the labour market success of partnered women

Abstract

"While previous research has provided general evidence on the positive outcomes of regional mobility for the labour market success of men and single women, most studies have also concluded that for married or partnered women residential relocation imposes severe disadvantages in terms of their economic situation and career. When accounting for these effects, most authors refer to microeconomic household theory - an approach that has been increasingly criticized for its restrictive assumptions regarding intra family decisions. Moreover most of these studies are outdated and do not fully capture the economic and social developments that have taken place in recent decade, especially in Germany. This paper contributes to the topic by extending the theoretical scope to a bargaining model of mobility decisions within couples and by using more current data. Additionally regional labour market structures are seen as important moderators of the effects of mobility and are explicitly considered in the analysis. Based on longitudinal data from the SOEP for the years 1992 - 2006 the following article focuses on the (longterm) income effects of regional mobility among East and West German couples with special regard to the economic situation of partnered women. The results of the panel fixed-effects estimations not only lend support to bargaining theory and stress the relevance of regional opportunity structures, but also indicate that the consequences of mobility for German women have changed. The paper discusses implications of the results for labour market processes and partnerships." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Nisic, N. (2010): Mitgegangen - mitgefangen? Die Folgen von Haushaltsumzügen für die Einkommenssituation von Frauen in Partnerschaften. In: Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Vol. 62, No. 3, p. 515-549. DOI:10.1007/s11577-010-0110-5