The Returns to Mobility and Job Search by Gender

Abstract

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the authors estimate the returns to job search, mobility, and the interaction of search and mobility for young men and women. They find statistically significant gender differences in mobility patterns and search behavior, but not in the returns to a given behavior. Both men and women engaged in substantial job search and mobility early in their careers, which resulted in wage growth premiums. There is evidence of an interactive effect: returns to search were realized through mobility, and returns to mobility were augmented by search.