Umeå University's logo

umu.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Marriage, money and migration
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Economics.
2009 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The thesis consists of a summary and four self-contained papers.

Paper [I] examines the effects of interregional migration on gross earnings in married and cohabiting couples. In particular, we examine the link between education level and income gains. We find that pre-migration education level is a key determinant of migration and economic outcomes and is also a determinant of the effect of migration on income distribution within the household. The positive average effect on household earnings is largely explained by income gains among highly-educated males. Females generally experience no significant income gain from migration in absolute terms.

Paper [II] analyzes the effect of the spouse’s education on individual earnings. In this study, we control for time-invariant heterogeneity that may be correlated with the spouse’s education level and use a rich data set that includes observations of individuals when they are single and when they are married. The results support the hypothesis of cross-productivity for both males and females. Furthermore, couples with education within the same field experience even larger effects.

In Paper [III] we aim to study how the spouse’s productivity in the labor market affects one’s own individual earnings when married. Using longitudinal data on individuals as both single and married allows us to estimate the spouses’ productivity as single persons and thereby avoid problems of endogeneity between the two spouses’ labor market performances. Productivity is approximated with residuals from estimates of pre-marriage earnings equations. Results indicate that there are negative effects of the spouse’s productivity on individual earnings for both males and females, and that this effect appears to be enhanced by the duration of the marriage.

Paper [IV] studies spousal matching on earnings for females in secondorder marriages. We aim to follow women who marry, divorce, and subsequently remarry compared with females who marry and stay married over the course of the study interval. Overall, we find significant positive correlations for all three of the marital partitions. The correlation tends to be smaller for the first of a sequence of marriages for women who divorce than for women who marry and stay so. For the second of the successive marriages, however, the correlation of the residuals is larger than that for women who marry but once.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Umeå: Institutionen för nationalekonomi, Umeå universitet , 2009.
Series
Umeå economic studies, ISSN 0348-1018 ; 790
Keywords [en]
Regional migration, two earner households, marriage, education, human capital spillover, specialization, assortative mating, remarriage
National Category
Economics
Research subject
Economics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-29881ISBN: 978-91-7264-915-6 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-29881DiVA, id: diva2:278410
Public defence
2009-12-18, Hörsal D, Samhällsvetarhuset, Umeå universitet, Umeå, 10:15 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2009-11-27 Created: 2009-11-25 Last updated: 2018-03-15Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. Sex and migration: who is the tied mover?
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Sex and migration: who is the tied mover?
2009 (English)Report (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

We study the effects of interregional migration on two-earner household gross earnings as well as on the relative income between married and cohabiting couples. In particular, we examine the link between education level and income gains.  Our empirical analysis is based on longitudinal data from Sweden as well as on functional regional labour markets that operate as regional entities. Using difference-in-differences propensity score matching, we find that migration increases total gross household earnings and has no significant impact on the male/female earnings gap. We find that pre-migration education level is a key determinant of migration and economic outcomes and is also a determinant of the effect of migration on income distribution within the household. The positive average effect on household earnings is largely explained by income gains among highly-educated males. Females generally experience no significant income gain from migration in absolute terms. Females gain significant relative income only if they are highly educated and married or cohabitating with a lower-educated male. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Umeå: Umeå universitet, 2009
Series
Umeå economic studies, ISSN 0348-1018 ; 787
National Category
Economics
Research subject
Economics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-29874 (URN)
Available from: 2009-11-25 Created: 2009-11-25 Last updated: 2018-06-08Bibliographically approved
2. The effects of spousal education on individual earnings.: A study of married Swedish couples
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The effects of spousal education on individual earnings.: A study of married Swedish couples
2009 (English)Report (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

A positive association between spousal education and individual earnings is a common empirical finding. The two most common explanations for this are sample selection and crossproductivity effects. Can spouses really benefit from each other’s human capital in the labour market, or does the entire association stem from assortative mating? In this study, we control for time-invariant heterogeneity that may be correlated with the spouse’s education level and use a rich data set that includes observations of individuals when they are single and when they are married. The results support the cross-productivity hypothesis for both males and females. Furthermore, couples with education within the same field experience even larger effects.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Umeå: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för nationalekonomi, 2009
Series
Umeå economic studies, ISSN 0348-1018 ; 789
Keywords
Marriage, Education, Human capital spillover
National Category
Economics
Research subject
Economics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-29879 (URN)
Available from: 2009-11-25 Created: 2009-11-25 Last updated: 2018-03-15Bibliographically approved
3. The effects of assortative mating on earnings.: Human capital spillover or specialization?
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The effects of assortative mating on earnings.: Human capital spillover or specialization?
2009 (English)Report (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This paper studies how the spouse’s productivity in the labor market affects one’s individual earnings when married. Theoretically, the high productivity of a spouse in a marriage could affect the other spouse’s earnings in two ways: negatively through specialization and division of labor, or positively from human capital spillover. Using longitudinal microdata on individuals as both single and married people allows us to estimate the spouses’ productivity as a single persons and thereby avoid problems of endogeneity between the two spouses’ labor market performances. Productivity is approximated with residuals from estimates of pre-marriage earnings equations. Results indicate that there are negative effects of the spouse’s productivity on individual earnings for both males and females, and that this effect appears to be enhanced by the duration of the marriage. However, closer examination shows that only the youngest groups of males and females experience this negative effect. In addition, there is some evidence for a positive effect of the husband’s productivity on earnings in the case of older groups of females.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Umeå: Institutionen för nationalekonomi, Umeå universitet, 2009
Series
Umeå economic studies, ISSN 0348-1018 ; 788
Keywords
Marriage, Assortative mating, Earnings, Specialization
National Category
Economics
Research subject
Economics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-29877 (URN)
Available from: 2009-11-25 Created: 2009-11-25 Last updated: 2018-03-15Bibliographically approved
4. Twice chosen.: Spouse matching and earnings among women in first and second marriages
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Twice chosen.: Spouse matching and earnings among women in first and second marriages
2009 (English)Report (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

This study examines spousal matching for females in second-order marriages. It is based on detailed data from longitudinal Swedish population data registers. We aim to follow women who marry, divorce, and subsequently remarry compared with females who marry and stay married over the course of the study interval. The earnings of both groups are modeled through regression analysis in the year prior to their marriages along with the earnings of each husband. The residuals from the regressions represent unobservables in the process of earnings generation. From the regressions we obtain spouse-to-be pairs of earnings residuals and we measure the correlation of residuals for each marital regime. Overall, we find significant positive correlations for all three of the marital partitions. The correlation tends to be smaller for the first of a sequence of marriages for women who divorce than for women who marry and stay so. For the second of the successive marriages, however, the correlation of the residuals is larger than that for women who marry but once. We also find evidence of “matching” between successive husbands. Women who marry men with unmeasured positive earnings capacities, in the event of divorce, tend to select and match in a similar fashion the second time around.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Umeå: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för nationalekonomi, 2009
Series
Umeå economic studies, ISSN 0348-1018 ; 795
Keywords
Marital matching, Remarriage, Assortative mating, Earnings
National Category
Economics
Research subject
Economics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-29880 (URN)
Projects
ALC
Available from: 2009-11-25 Created: 2009-11-25 Last updated: 2018-06-08Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(88 kB)1592 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 88 kBChecksum SHA-512
ec142551bb9eb411fccd4d73fa463e010c1d92753895ec6b4332e17a8c86f416d8d099c5ef3a5c25e73c342301cea9af60d5c5484514d7be9edc2f7b8761eb1d
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

By organisation
Department of Economics
Economics

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 1592 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

isbn
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

isbn
urn-nbn
Total: 594 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf