The Two-Body Problem: Dual-Earner Job Search, Migration, and Labor Market Outcomes

Hanno Foerster and Robert Ulbricht

No 1103, Boston College Working Papers in Economics from Boston College Department of Economics

Abstract: We develop a spatial directed searc hmodel of dual-earner households in which spouses choose where to search. Because households are the unit of mobility but workers are the unit of matching, the model naturally features two colocation constraints: geographic misalignment in spouses’ earnings prospects and a coordination friction, because moving without job loss requires a double coincidence of offers. Estimated on U.S. data, these constraints amplify gender gaps in employment and wages, reduce migration, especially among power couples, and create persistent trailing-spouse losses borne mainly by women. Remote work mitigates these losses over time by making jobs portable across locations.

Keywords: dual-earner migration; gender inequality; household job search; labor misallocation; remote work; spatial directed search (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 J16 J61 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-11-22, Revised 2026-05-23
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dge, nep-lab, nep-mac, nep-mig and nep-ure
Note: Previously circulated as "The Colocation Friction: Dual-Earner Job Search, Migration, and Labor Market Outcomes"
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