ONLINE: Seminar in Macroeconomics - Career Paths with a Two-Body Problem: Occupational Specialisation and Geographic Mobility
Time
Monday, 31. January 2022
12:00 - 13:15
Location
online
Organizer
Junior Professorship in Economics
Speaker:
Guillaume Wilemme (University of Leicester)
Career Paths with a Two-Body Problem: Occupational Specialisation and Geographic Mobility
joint with Valeria Rueda (University of Nottingham and CEPR)
Abstract: We develop a model of joint job search and occupational choice in which job opportunities can be incompatible inside the couple. Typically, incompatibilities may arise because jobs are not in the same location. We show that the existence of incompatible jobs pushes some couples to sacrifice the career of one partner who switches occupations. Such occupational switches occur throughout the career and at the time of couple formation. Gendered equilibria, whereby all women (or men) choose an accommodating occupation, may arise. Any element of ex-ante unfavorable gender gaps—for instance, due to discrimination or norms—is amplified and can generate large systemic differences in gender composition between occupations.