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The Male-Female Gap in Physician Earnings: Evidence from a Public Health Insurance System

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Abstract

Empirical evidence from U.S. studies suggests that, on average, female physicians earn less than their male counterparts. This gap in earnings does not disappear when individual and market characteristics are con- trolled for. This paper investigates whether a gender earnings difference can also be observed in a health care system predominantly financed by public insurance companies. Using a unique data set of physicians' earn- ings recorded by a public social security agency in an Austrian province between 2000 and 2004, we find a gender gap in average earnings of about 32 percent. A substantial share of this gap (20 to 47 percent) cannot be explained by individual and market characteristics, leaving labor market discrimination as one possible explanation for the observed gender earn- ings difference of physicians.

Suggested Citation

  • Engelbert Theurl & Hannes Winner, 2010. "The Male-Female Gap in Physician Earnings: Evidence from a Public Health Insurance System," NRN working papers 2010-01, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    • Handle: RePEc:jku:nrnwps:2010_01
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    Cited by:

    1. Charlotta Magnusson, 2016. "The gender wage gap in highly prestigious occupations: a case study of Swedish medical doctors," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(1), pages 40-58, February.
    2. Kralj, Boris & O'Toole, Danielle & Vanstone, Meredith & Sweetman, Arthur, 2022. "The gender earnings gap in medicine: Evidence from Canada," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(10), pages 1002-1009.
    3. Weeks, William B. & Paraponaris, Alain & Ventelou, Bruno, 2013. "Sex-based differences in income and response to proposed financial incentives among general practitioners in France," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 199-205.
    4. Schurer, Stefanie & Kühnle, Daniel & Scott, Anthony & Cheng, Terence Chai, 2012. "One Man's Blessing, Another Woman's Curse? Family Factors and the Gender-Earnings Gap of Doctors," IZA Discussion Papers 7017, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Wang, Chao & Sweetman, Arthur, 2013. "Gender, family status and physician labour supply," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 17-25.
    6. Gächter, Martin & Schwazer, Peter & Theurl, Engelbert & Winner, Hannes, 2012. "Physician density in a two-tiered health care system," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(3), pages 257-268.
    7. Stefanie Schurer & Daniel Kuehnle & Anthony Scott & Terence C. Cheng, 2016. "A Man's Blessing or a Woman's Curse? The Family Earnings Gap of Doctors," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 385-414, July.
    8. Nina Giordano & Cecilia Parada & Mijail Yapor, 2023. "Gender pay gap in a highly qualified sector: evidence from administrative data," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 23-21, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    9. Gravelle, Hugh & Hole, Arne Risa & Santos, Rita, 2011. "Measuring and testing for gender discrimination in physician pay: English family doctors," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 660-674, July.
    10. Pruckner, Gerald J. & Stiftinger, Flora & Zocher, Katrin, 2025. "When women take over: Physician gender and health care provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    11. Mikol, Fanny & Franc, Carine, 2019. "Gender differences in the incomes of self-employed French physicians: The role of family structure," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(7), pages 666-674.
    12. Song, Jia & Cheng, Terence C., 2020. "How do gender differences in family responsibilities affect doctors' labour supply? Evidence from Australian panel data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    13. Jones, Melanie K. & Kaya, Ezgi, 2021. "The Gender Pay Gap in UK Medicine," IZA Discussion Papers 14177, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Magali Dumontet & Marc Le Vaillant & Carine Franc, 2012. "What determines the income gap between French male and female GPs - the role of medical practices," Post-Print inserm-00761590, HAL.
    15. repec:dau:papers:123456789/11717 is not listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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