Workshop’s Topic: Our study analyzes the effect of women’s access to reproductive control on female auditor mobility. Exploiting the staggered state-level adoption of Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws that restrict women’s access to abortion, we find that female auditors’ propensity to relocate to states without TRAP laws increases following the current state’s adopting TRAP laws. This effect is stronger among female auditors with more liberal political ideology and weaker religious attachment.

The relocation of female auditors leads to a higher turnover rate and loss of human capital at local audit offices, which consequently impairs the local office’s audit quality. We further exploit data on 16.5 million skilled women with a college degree from various occupations to establish the external validity of our inference. Our study sheds light on the potential long-term labor market consequences of restricted abortion access following the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Time and Location: 15:00-16:00 PM (GMT+8), Online (Tencent Meeting Number: 758-646-306)

Language: Bilingual (Chinese and English)