Abstract
This study examines the employment status and choice of employment sector of female foreign spouses from Southeast Asia and Mainland China in Taiwan. Based on the theories of family labor supply, human capital, and social capital, we conducted an empirical analysis using the data from the 2003 Survey of Foreign and Mainland Spouses’ Life Status. A binary logit model, multinomial logit model, and bivariate probit model were adopted as our estimation methods. The estimation results indicate that family background, human capital, social capital, and other personal characteristics are all significant in determining the employment status of foreign spouses. In particular, the number of children younger than six years old, husband’s employment status, husband’s educational level, and the scale of town have negative impacts on employment status, while educational level, years since migration, language fluency, number of programs attended in the past, and immigrant status have positive impacts on employment status. In addition, family background, including husband’s educational level and husband’s employment sector, and other personal characteristics, such as Chinese origin, citizenship, and the scale of town, show influences on the choice of employment sector by foreign spouses. However, unlike the analysis of employment status, human capital does not play an important role in determining the choice of employment sector.