Does Migration Empower Married Women?

Natalie Chen, Paola Conconi and Carlo Perroni

The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) from University of Warwick, Department of Economics

Abstract: Household migration can affect labor market opportunities differently for the two spouses, both because of gender-specific differences between the skills of migrants and the skills that are in demand in the host country, and because of differences in the extent of gender-based labor market discrimination between the country of origin and the host country. Standard bargaining theory suggests that, if household migration leads to a comparative improvement in labor market opportunities for married women, it should be beneficial to them. We show that, if renegotiation possibilities for migrant women are limited, the opposite may be true, particularly if women are specialized in household activities and the labor market allows more flexibility in their labor supply choices. Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel indeed shows that, holding everything else constant, improvements in relative wages for migrant women do not translate into better outcomes for them.

Keywords: International Migration; Marriage; Renegotiation; Gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 F2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 40 pages
Date: 2007
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-mig
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Does Migration Empower Married Women? (2007)
Working Paper: Does Migration Empower Married Women? (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wrk:warwec:812

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