IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indres/v54y2015i3p367-400.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Theory of Dual Job Search and Sex-Based Occupational Clustering

Author

Listed:
  • Alan Benson

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="irel12095-abs-0001"> This paper theorizes and provides evidence for the segregation of men into clustered occupations and women into dispersed occupations in advance of marriage and in anticipation of future colocation problems. Using the Decennial Census, and controlling for occupational characteristics, I find evidence of this general pattern of segregation, and also find that the minority of the highly educated men and women who depart from this equilibrium experience delayed marriage, higher divorce, and lower earnings. Results are consistent with the theory that marriage and mobility expectations foment a self-fulfilling pattern of occupational segregation with individual departures deterred by earnings and marriage penalties.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Benson, 2015. "A Theory of Dual Job Search and Sex-Based Occupational Clustering," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 367-400, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:54:y:2015:i:3:p:367-400
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/irel.2015.54.issue-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz & Ilyana Kuziemko, 2006. "The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the College Gender Gap," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 133-156, Fall.
    2. Echevarria, Cristina & Merlo, Antonio, 1999. "Gender Differences in Education in a Dynamic Household Bargaining Model," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 40(2), pages 265-286, May.
    3. Gronau, Reuben, 1988. "Sex-Related Wage Differentials and Women's Interrupted Labor Careers--The Chicken or the Egg," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(3), pages 277-301, July.
    4. Dora L. Costa & Matthew E. Kahn, 2000. "Power Couples: Changes in the Locational Choice of the College Educated, 1940–1990," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1287-1315.
    5. Jacob Mincer & Solomon Polachek, 1974. "Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women," NBER Chapters, in: Marriage, Family, Human Capital, and Fertility, pages 76-110, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. McGoldrick, KimMarie & Robst, John, 1996. "Gender Differences in Overeducation: A Test of the Theory of Differential Overqualification," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 280-284, May.
    7. Ellison, Glenn & Glaeser, Edward L, 1997. "Geographic Concentration in U.S. Manufacturing Industries: A Dartboard Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 889-927, October.
    8. Judith A. McDonald & Robert J. Thornton, 2007. "Do New Male and Female College Graduates Receive Unequal Pay?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(1).
    9. Becker, Gary S., 1971. "The Economics of Discrimination," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 2, number 9780226041162, December.
    10. Paul Boyle & Thomas Cooke & Keith Halfacree & Darren Smith, 2001. "A cross-national comparison of the impact of family migration on women’s employment status," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(2), pages 201-213, May.
    11. Polachek, Solomon William, 1981. "Occupational Self-Selection: A Human Capital Approach to Sex Differences in Occupational Structure," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(1), pages 60-69, February.
    12. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2000. "Gender Differences in Pay," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 75-99, Fall.
    13. Gautier, Pieter A. & Svarer, Michael & Teulings, Coen N., 2010. "Marriage and the city: Search frictions and sorting of singles," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 206-218, March.
    14. Becker, Gary S, 1985. "Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 33-58, January.
    15. Satu Nivalainen, 2004. "Determinants of family migration: short moves vs. long moves," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 17(1), pages 157-175, February.
    16. Mincer, Jacob, 1978. "Family Migration Decisions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(5), pages 749-773, October.
    17. Marianne Bertrand & Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2009. "Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the Corporate and Financial Sectors," NBER Working Papers 14681, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Janice Compton & Robert A. Pollak, 2007. "Why Are Power Couples Increasingly Concentrated in Large Metropolitan Areas?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(3), pages 475-512.
    19. Dan A. Black & Amelia M. Haviland & Seth G. Sanders & Lowell J. Taylor, 2008. "Gender Wage Disparities among the Highly Educated," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(3), pages 630-659.
    20. Thomas N. Daymonti & Paul J. Andrisani, 1984. "Job Preferences, College Major, and the Gender Gap in Earnings," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 19(3), pages 408-428.
    21. Frank, Robert H, 1978. "Family Location Constraints and the Geographic Distribution of Female Professionals," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(1), pages 117-130, February.
    22. Hadfield, Gillian K., 1999. "A coordination model of the sexual division of labor," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 125-153, October.
    23. Sandell, Steven H, 1977. "Women and the Economics of Family Migration," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 59(4), pages 406-414, November.
    24. Anne Beeson Royalty, 1996. "The Effects of Job Turnover on the Training of Men and Women," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 49(3), pages 506-521, April.
    25. Duncan, Greg J & Hoffman, Saul, 1979. "On-the-Job Training and Earnings Differences by Race and Sex," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 61(4), pages 594-603, November.
    26. Johansson, Mats & Katz, Katarina, 2007. "Wage differences between women and men in Sweden - the impact of skill mismatch," Working Paper Series 2007:13, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    27. Terra Mckinnish, 2008. "Spousal Mobility and Earnings," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(4), pages 829-849, November.
    28. Ofek, Haim & Merrill, Yesook, 1997. "Labor Immobility and the Formation of Gender Wage Gaps in Local Markets," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(1), pages 28-47, January.
    29. Jacobsen, Joyce P. & Levin, Laurence M., 2000. "The effects of internal migration on the relative economic status of women and men," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 291-304, May.
    30. Engineer, Merwan & Welling, Linda, 1999. "Human capital, true love, and gender roles: is sex destiny?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 155-178, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joanne Lindley & Stephen Machin, 2011. "The Boom in Postgraduate Education and Its Impact on Wage Inequality," CentrePiece - The magazine for economic performance 351, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. Lindley, Joanne & Machin, Stephen, 2011. "Rising Wage Inequality and Postgraduate Education," IZA Discussion Papers 5981, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Mañé Vernet, Ferran & Miravet, Daniel, 2010. "Sobreeducación y Sobrecualificación en los Universitarios Catalanes. Una perspectiva de género," Working Papers 2072/179592, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    4. Joanne Lindley & Stephen Machin, 2016. "The Rising Postgraduate Wage Premium," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(330), pages 281-306, April.
    5. Colleen Flaherty Manchester & Lisa M. Leslie & Patricia C. Dahm, 2019. "Bringing Home the Bacon: The Relationships among Breadwinner Role, Performance, and Pay," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 46-85, January.
    6. Murray-Close, Marta, 2019. "Living Far Apart Together: Dual-Career Location Constraints and Marital Noncohabitation," SocArXiv a9dc8, Center for Open Science.
    7. Valeria Rueda & Guillaume Wilemme, 2021. "Career Paths with a Two-Body Problem: Occupational Specialization and Geographic Mobility," Upjohn Working Papers 21-346, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alan Benson, 2014. "Rethinking the Two-Body Problem: The Segregation of Women Into Geographically Dispersed Occupations," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1619-1639, October.
    2. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 789-865, September.
    3. Jeremy Burke & Amalia R. Miller, 2018. "The Effects Of Job Relocation On Spousal Careers: Evidence From Military Change Of Station Moves," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1261-1277, April.
    4. Martin Junge & Martin D. Munk & Panu Poutvaara, 2013. "International Migration of Couples," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2013018, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    5. Foged, Mette, 2016. "Family migration and relative earnings potentials," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 87-100.
    6. Janice Compton & Robert A. Pollak, 2007. "Why Are Power Couples Increasingly Concentrated in Large Metropolitan Areas?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(3), pages 475-512.
    7. Elul, Ronel & Silva-Reus, Jose & Volij, Oscar, 2002. "Will you marry me?: A perspective on the gender gap," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 549-572, December.
    8. Kiss, Károly Miklós & Lőrincz, László & Ilyés, Virág & Varga, Kinga, 2024. "Földrajzi és nemek közötti bérkülönbségek a karrierszekvenciákban [Geographical and gender pay gaps in career paths]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 701-727.
    9. Kent Eliasson & Robert Nakosteen & Olle Westerlund & Michael Zimmer, 2014. "All in the family: Self-selection and migration by couples," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(1), pages 101-124, March.
    10. Felix Büchel & Harminder Battu, 2003. "The Theory of Differential Overqualification: Does it Work?," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 50(1), pages 1-16, February.
    11. Murray-Close, Marta, 2019. "Commuter Couples and Careers: Moving Together for Him and Apart for Her," SocArXiv s5nvp, Center for Open Science.
    12. Compton, Janice & Pollak, Robert A., 2014. "Family proximity, childcare, and women’s labor force attachment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 72-90.
    13. Hendrik Jürges, 2006. "Gender ideology, division of housework, and the geographic mobility of families," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 299-323, December.
    14. Robert M. Solow & Jean-Philippe Touffut (ed.), 2010. "The Shape of the Division of Labour," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14184.
    15. Diana Tam & Arthur Grimes, 2023. "Migration of dual-earner couples: a subjective wellbeing approach," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 269-289, March.
    16. Zhengyu Cai & Heather M. Stephens & John V. Winters, 2019. "Motherhood, migration, and self-employment of college graduates," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 611-629, October.
    17. Tate, Geoffrey & Yang, Liu, 2015. "Female leadership and gender equity: Evidence from plant closure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 77-97.
    18. Michael Quinn & Stephen Rubb, 2011. "Spouse Overeducation and Family Migration: Evidence from the US," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 36-45, March.
    19. Jan Cadil & Martin Kopecky & Tomas Jurcik, 2022. "Job grade camouflage: When low gender pay gap does not mean equal pay," International Journal of Economic Sciences, European Research Center, vol. 11(2), pages 28-47, November.
    20. Shelly Lundberg, 2010. "The Changing Sexual Division of Labour," Chapters, in: Robert M. Solow & Jean-Philippe Touffut (ed.), The Shape of the Division of Labour, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:54:y:2015:i:3:p:367-400. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8676 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.