The Falling Roe and Relocation of Skilled Women

Abstract

We examine the impact of abortion restrictions on the geographic mobility of college-educated skilled women. Exploiting the staggered adoption of Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws across U.S. states that restrict women’s access to abortion, we find that skilled women who relocate exhibit a greater propensity to move to states without TRAP laws (non-TRAP states) than they did prior to the TRAP law adoption. This pattern is stronger among women in more liberal and less religious areas than among women in more conservative and more religious areas. These findings are consistent with the view that relocation decisions are often driven by the alignment between personal values and the local policy environment. We use the audit industry as a specific setting to address the implications for employer performance. We find that TRAP law adoption increases female auditor turnover at local offices relative to same-firm offices in non-TRAP states, and the resulting loss of human capital lowers audit quality.

Keywords: TRAP Laws; Abortion Policy; Skilled Women; Labor Mobility; Political Ideology; Auditors.