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ERIC Number: ED561463
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 148
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-1-3034-6618-2
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Evaluating Higher Education's Two-Body Problem
Woolstenhulme, Jared Lynn
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Washington State University
Academic couples make up a significant portion of the academic labor market. Unlike other dual-career households, academic couples must not only find employment in the same region, but often in the same institution. Previous work has not considered how outcomes may be different when dual career households work for the same employer. In the first chapter, we develop a theoretical model of the academic labor market in which couples wish to remain together but may be heterogeneous in their level of productivity. We consider two evaluation polices for hiring academic couples, an independent and an average policy. The predictions of the model are sensitive to the choice of evaluation policy. We test for differences in productivity using annual publications as a proxy for productivity. We find that couples have more publications per year than their peers. In the second chapter I set up a test of the theory that high mobility costs for academics result in negative returns to seniority. Academic couples are more limited in their job prospects such that their expected market wage, if they were to move, is lower than their colleagues' which results in a higher probability of remaining at the current institution. A greater probability of remaining means the university can offer a lower wage to couples each year than they could for other faculty and maintain the same probability that the couple will accept. I first estimate the relative probability of leaving the university and find that couples are much less likely to leave than their colleagues. I then estimate a wage equation similar to previous literature and find evidence that academic couples are penalized more for each additional year of seniority relative to other academics but the result is not robust across multiple specifications. In the third chapter I compare outcomes of couples hired into the same department with couples hired into different departments. I suspect outcomes may be different when multiple department heads are involved in hiring and salary decisions rather than a single department head. I find differences in annual publications, salary and employment duration. I then discuss policy implications. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A