A model of workplace and residence choice in two-worker households

Workplace and residence locations in two-earner households have typically been studied by analyzing the length of both spouses' journeys to work. In this paper, decisions among location options are examined directly with a discrete choice model, yielding more straightforward and easily interpreted estimates of their determinants. Evidence from five cities shows that women's earnings opportunities and commuting burdens influence not only the wife's choice of workplace but the husband's job site and the household residence as well. Where strong downtown economies offer attractive earnings opportunities for professional women, wives' uninterrupted professional careers encourage the choice of central jobs for both spouses and a central residence.