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  3. 2026
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  5. New Perspectives on Gender Differences in Earnings, Employment, and Household Mobility
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New Perspectives on Gender Differences in Earnings, Employment, and Household Mobility

Paper Session

Monday, Jan. 5, 2026 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (EST)

Philadelphia Convention Center, 204-B
Hosted By: American Economic Association
  • Chair: Marta Lachowska, Upjohn Institute for Employment Research

Moving to Opportunity, Together

Matthew J. Notowidigdo
,
University of Chicago
Seema Jayachandran
,
Princeton University
Lea Nassal
,
University of Warwick
Heather Sarsons
,
University of British Columbia
Elin Sundberg
,
Uppsala University

Abstract

Many couples face a trade-off between advancing one spouse’s career or the other’s. We study this trade-off using administrative data from Germany and Sweden. Using an event study approach, we find that when couples move across commuting zones, men’s earnings increase more than women’s. To distinguish between two leading explanations — men’s greater potential earnings and a gender norm of prioritizing men’s careers — we examine how the patterns differ when the woman has the higher potential earnings. We then estimate a model of household decision-making in which households can (and do) place more weight on the man’s earnings.

Joint Child Custody and Men's Mobility

Abigail Adams
,
Northwestern University
Oğuz Bayraktar
,
University of Oxford
Thomas Jorgensen
,
University of Copenhagen
Hamish Low
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Alessandra Voena
,
Stanford University

Abstract

The legal regime governing the rights and responsibilities of separated parents for shared children has been transformed since the 1980s. Joint custody is now authorized in many developed economies and is often the default arrangement for raising a child following separation. Unlike monetary transfers, time transfers between separated parents can be very costly when individuals live apart. We first show that the interstate migration rate of separated fathers has fallen significantly more than that of married fathers since the 1980s. We then use the staggered adoption of joint custody laws across US states to analyze their impact on the migration and economic outcomes of separated parents. We find that joint custody arrangements reduce the interstate migration of separated fathers by 45% but has no significant impact on the mobility of mothers. This impact is greatest for College educated fathers. We find evidence that joint custody increases the labor market attachment of separated mothers with a weakly negative impact on the economic outcomes of fathers.

Firms and the Gender Wage Gap: A Comparison of Eleven Countries

Marco Palladino
,
Banque de France
Antoine Bertheau
,
NHH
Alexander Hijzen
,
OECD
Astrid Kunze
,
NHH
Marta Lachowska
,
Upjohn Institute

Abstract

We quantify the role of gender-specific firm wage premiums in explaining the private-sector gender gap in hourly wages using a harmonized research design across 11 matched employer-employee datasets—ten European countries and Washington state, USA. These premiums contribute to the gender wage gap through two channels: women’s concentration in lower-paying firms (sorting) and women receiving lower premiums than men within the same firm (pay-setting). We find that firm wage premiums account for 10 to 30 percent of the gender wage gap. While both mechanisms matter, sorting is the predominant driver of the firm contribution to the gender wage gap in most countries. We document three patterns that are broadly consistent across countries: (1) women’s sorting into lower-paying firms increases with age; (2) women are more concentrated in low-paying firms with a high share of part-time workers; and (3) women receive about 90 percent of the rents that men receive from firm surplus gains.

Discussant(s)
Camille Landais
,
London School of Economics
JEL Classifications
  • J1 - Demographic Economics
  • J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs