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Locus of Control and Mothers’ Return to Employment

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  • Eva M. Berger
  • Luke Haywood

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of locus of control (LOC) on the length of mothers’ employment break after childbirth. Duration data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study reveal that women with an internal LOC return to employment more quickly than women with an external LOC. We find that this effect is particularly pronounced in jobs in which the penalties in terms of lower wage growth are highest. We thus argue that the effect of LOC on return is mainly related to differential appreciation of the career costs of longer maternity leave.

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  • Eva M. Berger & Luke Haywood, 2016. "Locus of Control and Mothers’ Return to Employment," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 442-481.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jhucap:doi:10.1086/689353
    DOI: 10.1086/689353
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    Cited by:

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    3. Malte Preuss & Juliane Hennecke, 2017. "Biased by Success and Failure: How Unemployment Shapes Stated Locus of Control," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 943, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Juliane Hennecke, 2020. "Locus of Control and Female Labor Force Participation," Working Papers 2020-03, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
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    6. Xue, Sen & Kidd, Michael P. & Le, Anh T. & Kirk, Kathy & Martin, Nicholas G., 2019. "The Role of Locus of Control in Education, Occupation, Income and Healthy Habits: Evidence from Australian Twins," GLO Discussion Paper Series 371, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Gong, Xiaodong & Zhu, Rong, 2019. "Cognitive abilities, non-cognitive skills, and gambling behaviors," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 51-69.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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