VOCATIONALLY MOTIVATED MIGRATION BEHAVIOR IN DOUBLE-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS- AN EMPIRICAL-ANALYSIS USING GSOEP-DATA

Rational-choice or microeconomic approaches to migration behavior are often restricted to analysing the rational action of the (often male) head of household. These explanations do not allow for the fact that m igration decisions are frequently made by whole families. In this cont ext, the increasing labor force participation of married women is assu med to be one important reason for declining migration rates in German y. In this paper, the relative effect of different job characteristics of men and women on the labor migration of double income households i s examined using German household panel data (GSOEP). We find a sex re lated bias in family decision-making, which cannot be accounted for by classical microeconomic models of family migration. Sociological appr oaches to household decision-making emphasizing the importance of sex role ideologies held by family members can therefore be considered use ful complements to purely economic models.