Moving in Academia: Who Moves and What Happens After?

Abstract

We study labor mobility among academic economists in the United States. Analyzing CV data from over 6,000 economists at Research 1 institutions, we document that female assistant and associate professors are 8 percentage points less likely to move with promotion than their male counterparts. Women are also more likely than men to relocate to lower-ranked institutions. Event study graphs reveal that men working in departments that receive a new faculty member see their publication output increase by more than twice as much as that of women in these departments. Our findings highlight significant gender differences in who moves and what happens after.