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Underpaid or Overpaid? Wage Analysis for Nurses Using Job and Worker Attributes

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Author Info
Hirsch, Barry () (Georgia State University)
Schumacher, Edward J. () (Trinity University)

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Abstract

The nursing labor market presents an apparent puzzle. Hospitals report chronic shortages, yet standard wage analysis shows that nursing wages have increased over time and greatly exceed those received by other college-educated women. This paper addresses this puzzle. Data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) are matched with detailed job content descriptors from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). Nursing jobs require higher levels of skills and more difficult working conditions than do jobs for other college educated workers. A standard CPS-only wage regression shows a registered nurse (RN) wage advantage of .22 log points compared to a pooled male/female group of college-educated workers. Control for O*NET job attributes reduces the RN gap to .08, while an arguably preferable nonparametric estimator produces a wage gap estimate close to zero. We conclude that nurses receive compensation close to long-run opportunity costs, narrowing if not resolving the RN wage-shortage puzzle.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 3833.

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Length: 31 pages
Date of creation: Nov 2008
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3833

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Related research
Keywords: nursing; wage differentials; job attributes;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Production
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J44 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Professional Labor Markets and Occupations

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Hwang, Hae-shin & Reed, W Robert & Hubbard, Carlton, 1992. "Compensating Wage Differentials and Unobserved Productivity," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 835-58, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Ingram, Beth F. & Neumann, George R., 2006. "The returns to skill," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 35-59, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Daniel Sullivan, 1989. "Monopsony Power in the Market for Nurses," NBER Working Papers 3031, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Barry T. Hirsch & Edward J. Schumacher, 2004. "Match Bias in Wage Gap Estimates Due to Earnings Imputation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(3), pages 689-722, July. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. V. Bhaskar & Alan Manning & Ted To, 2002. "Oligopsony and Monopsonistic Competition in Labor Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 155-174, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Janet Currie & Mehdi Farsi & W. Bentley Macleod, 2005. "Cut to the bone? Hospital takeovers and nurse employment contracts," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 58(3), pages 494-514, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Manning, Willard G., 1998. "The logged dependent variable, heteroscedasticity, and the retransformation problem," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 283-295, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. James J. Heckman & Jora Stixrud & Sergio Urzua, 2006. "The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 411-482, July. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Marco Manacorda, 2004. "Can the Scala Mobile Explain the Fall and Rise of Earnings Inequality in Italy? A Semiparametric Analysis, 19771993," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(3), pages 585-614, July. [Downloadable!]
  10. Edward J. Schumacher & Barry T. Hirsch, . "Compensating Differentials and Unmeasured Ability in the Labor Market For Nurses: Why Do Hospitals Pay More?," Working Papers 9604, East Carolina University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Sullivan, Daniel, 1989. "Monopsony Power in the Market for Nurses," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(2), pages S135-78, October.
  12. Blackburn, McKinley L., 2007. "Estimating wage differentials without logarithms," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 73-98, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. William M. Boal & Michael R. Ransom, 1997. "Monopsony in the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 86-112, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Manning, Willard G. & Mullahy, John, 2001. "Estimating log models: to transform or not to transform?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 461-494, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Douglas Staiger & Joanne Spetz & Ciaran Phibbs, 1999. "Is There Monopsony in the Labor Market? Evidence from a Natural Experiment," NBER Working Papers 7258, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Christopher R. Bollinger & Barry T. Hirsch, 2005. "Match Bias from Earnings Imputation in the Current Population Survey: The Case of Imperfect Matching," IZA Discussion Papers 1846, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Kostiuk, Peter F, 1990. "Compensating Differentials for Shift Work," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 1054-75, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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