Elin Sundberg

Working Papers

Moving to Opportunity, Together [SUBMITTED] 
(with Seema Jayachandran, Lea Nassal, Matt Notowidigdo, Marie Paul & Heather Sarsons)
NBER WORKING PAPER RFBerlin WORKING PAPER
Abstract: Many couples face a trade-off between advancing one spouse’s career or the other’s. We study this trade-off using administrative data from Germany and Sweden. Using an event study approach, we find that when couples move across commuting zones, men’s earnings increase more than women’s. To distinguish between men’s greater potential earnings and a gender norm that prioritizes men’s careers, we examine how the patterns differ when the woman has higher potential earnings than her husband. We then estimate a model of household decision-making in which households can (and do) place more weight on income earned by the man. 

Paternity Leave and Child Outcomes [REJECT & RESUBMIT] (with Daniel Avdic, Arizo Karimi & Anna Sjögren)
Abstract: We study how fathers’ time impacts children’s human capital using the introduction of earmarked paternity leave in Sweden. We use administrative data on parents’ leave uptake and children’s educational outcomes in a difference-in-discontinuities design, exploiting the plausibly random timing of childbirth. We show that the reform decreased average school-leaving grade point averages of sons of non-college fathers by 0.07 standard deviations and increased intergenerational persistence of human capital by 30 percent. We give suggestive evidence that these findings are explained by asymmetric impacts on parents’ time investments owing to family disruptions and (lack of) substitutability of parents’ time inputs.

Flexibility for Both Parents: Remote Work and the Evolution of Child Penalties (with Dana Scott)

Abstract: Can workplace flexibility reduce child penalties by helping women balance work and family? We examine this question using Swedish administrative data and the rapid adoption of remote work during COVID-19. Using a triple-difference design, we compare child penalties before and after the pandemic across occupations with differential exposure to remote work. We find that remote work failed to reduce motherhood penalties: changes in employment, hours, and wage penalties show no systematic relationship with remote work adoption. We develop a household model to clarify the mechanisms producing these null results. When a mother gains the option to work remotely, she saves commuting time but also faces a wage penalty and becomes more productive in home production. Whether she increases market work or shifts toward home production depends on which force dominates. Across heterogeneous households, these opposing responses offset to produce minimal aggregate effects. Our findings suggest that expanding access to flexibility may be insufficient to reduce motherhood penalties without changing how households divide work.

Work in Progress

Trading Off Career and Family at Labor Market Entry
Abstract: This paper examines the trade-off between career and family at labor market entry using unique data on job preferences among Swedish law graduates. Using ranked job applications, I document gender differences in employment and location preferences: women are less geographically mobile and less likely to pursue private-sector career paths. I focus on cohabitation status at labor market entry to investigate how early family ties may constrain preferences. Cohabiting applicants--regardless of gender--are less mobile, reflecting short-run career constraints. However, cohabitation at labor market entry does not predict long-run gender differences in earnings. Instead, career trajectories begin to diverge with the timing of parenthood, underscoring the unequal career costs of family formation. 

Employer Strategies to Employee Turnover in the Public Sector (with Arizo Karimi & Pengpeng Xiao)

Articles in Swedish

Boström, E. & A. Sundberg (2018), "Få men fler kvinnor i svensk nationalekonomi", Ekonomisk debatt, 46(4), s. 19–32.