Husbands' return migration and wives' occupational choices
Clotilde Mahé
#2017-031
Exploiting the documented effect of migration on occupational choice
upon return to their origin country with data from Egypt, we establish a
link between return migration of men and their wives' time use through
within-couple occupational interdependence. Seemingly Unrelated
Regression model estimates suggest that being married to a migrant who
opted for self-employment upon return decreases a woman's likelihood to
engage in paid work, and increases her likelihood to engage in family
work and subsistence farming, at both the extensive and intensive
margins. This is pronounced for rural families, and when husbands work
in agriculture. Results differ by education level, illiterate wives
engaging significantly more in paid as well as unpaid work compared to
more educated women. Findings are consistent with theoretical models of
occupational interdependence between spouses and assortative mating;
they highlight the need to buffer potentially depriving
migration-induced effects on women's time use, even once migration is
complete.
JEL classification: F22, J16, J22, J24, L26, O12, O15
Keywords: International migration, Return migration, Gender, Time use,
Entrepreneurship, North Africa, Egypt