The Role of Marriage Markets in the Inter-Metropolitan Distribution of Skilled Couples

Thomas Cooke, University of Connecticut

Costa and Kahn (2000) hypothesized that dual-degree couples migrate to large cities in order to solve their dual-employment problem. However, only limited empirical evidence supports this hypothesis. This research presents an alternative explanation: The inter-metropolitan distribution of skilled couples is largely the result of marriages among skilled singles in large cities. The relative merits of both the “colocation” and “marriage market” hypotheses are evaluated by comparing the effects of migration and marriage on the inter-metropolitan distribution of dual-degree couples using data from the 2008 American Community Survey. Migration is found to have little effect on the distribution of dual-degree couples. Rather, the concentration of dual-degree couples is strongly related to the high rate of marriages among single college graduates in large cities.