IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ris/sbgwpe/2010_015.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The male-female gap in physician earnings: Evidence from a public health insurance system

Author

Listed:
  • Theurl, Engelbert

    (Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Innsbruck)

  • Winner, Hannes

    (University of Salzburg)

Abstract

Empirical evidence from U.S. studies suggests that female physicians earn less than their male counterparts, on average. The earnings gap does not disappear when individual and market characteristics are controlled 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’ earnings 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 earnings difference of physicians.

Suggested Citation

  • Theurl, Engelbert & Winner, Hannes, 2010. "The male-female gap in physician earnings: Evidence from a public health insurance system," Working Papers in Economics 2010-15, University of Salzburg.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:sbgwpe:2010_015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.uni-salzburg.at/fileadmin/oracle_file_imports/1383223.PDF
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Doris Weichselbaumer & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2007. "The effects of competition and equal treatment laws on gender wage differentials [‘Models of job discrimination’]," Economic Policy, CEPR;CES;MSH, vol. 22(50), pages 236-287.
    2. David J. Bashaw & John S. Heywood, 2001. "The Gender Earnings Gap for US Physicians: Has Equality been Achieved?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 15(3), pages 371-391, September.
    3. F. L. Jones, 1983. "On Decomposing the Wage Gap: A Critical Comment on Blinder's Method," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 18(1), pages 126-130.
    4. Judith K. Hellerstein & David Neumark & Kenneth R. Troske, 2002. "Market Forces and Sex Discrimination," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(2), pages 353-380.
    5. Claudia Olivetti & Barbara Petrongolo, 2008. "Unequal Pay or Unequal Employment? A Cross-Country Analysis of Gender Gaps," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(4), pages 621-654, October.
    6. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2003. "Understanding International Differences in the Gender Pay Gap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 106-144, January.
    7. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3143-3259 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Alexandra Constant & Pierre Thomas Léger, 2008. "Estimating differences between male and female physician service provision using panel data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(11), pages 1295-1315, November.
    9. Rizzo, John A. & Blumenthal, David, 1994. "Physician labor supply: Do income effects matter?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 433-453.
    10. Kathryn M. Langwell, 1982. "Factors Affecting the Incomes of Men and Women Physicians: Further Explorations," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 17(2), pages 261-275.
    11. repec:eee:labchp:v:1:y:1986:i:c:p:693-785 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    13. Barbara H. Kehrer, 1976. "Factors Affecting the Incomes of Men and Women Physicians: An Exploratory," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 11(4), pages 526-545.
    14. Ronald L. Oaxaca & Michael R. Ransom, 1999. "Identification in Detailed Wage Decompositions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(1), pages 154-157, February.
    15. Rizzo, John A. & Zeckhauser, Richard J., 2007. "Pushing incomes to reference points: Why do male doctors earn more?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 514-536, July.
    16. Wood, Robert G & Corcoran, Mary E & Courant, Paul N, 1993. "Pay Differences among the Highly Paid: The Male-Female Earnings Gap in Lawyers' Salaries," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(3), pages 417-441, July.
    17. Wiji Arulampalam & Alison L. Booth & Mark L. Bryan, 2007. "Is There a Glass Ceiling over Europe? Exploring the Gender Pay Gap across the Wage Distribution," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(2), pages 163-186, January.
    18. Alicia C. Sasser, 2005. "Gender Differences in Physician Pay: Tradeoffs Between Career and Family," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    19. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    20. Altonji, Joseph G. & Blank, Rebecca M., 1999. "Race and gender in the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 48, pages 3143-3259, Elsevier.
    21. Cotton, Jeremiah, 1988. "On the Decomposition of Wage Differentials," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(2), pages 236-243, May.
    22. Reimers, Cordelia W, 1983. "Labor Market Discrimination against Hispanic and Black Men," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 65(4), pages 570-579, November.
    23. Hampton, Mary B., 1991. "Physician's income and the percent female of the physician's specialty," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 425-428, August.
    24. Ohsfeldt, Robert L. & Culler, Steven D., 1986. "Differences in income between male and female physicians," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 335-346, December.
    25. Mary B. Hampton & John S. Heywood, 1993. "Do Workers Accurately Perceive Gender Wage Discrimination?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 47(1), pages 36-49, October.
    26. Orley Ashenfelter & Timothy Hannan, 1986. "Sex Discrimination and Product Market Competition: The Case of the Banking Industry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(1), pages 149-173.
    27. René Böheim & Helmut Hofer & Christine Zulehner, 2007. "Wage differences between Austrian men and women: semper idem?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 213-229, July.
    28. David Neumark, 1988. "Employers' Discriminatory Behavior and the Estimation of Wage Discrimination," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 23(3), pages 279-295.
    29. Oaxaca, Ronald L. & Ransom, Michael R., 1994. "On discrimination and the decomposition of wage differentials," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 5-21, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    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. Stefanie Schurer & Daniel Kuehnle & Anthony Scott & Terence Chai Cheng, 2012. "One Man's Blessing, Another Woman's Curse? Family Factors and the Gender-Earnings Gap of Doctors," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2012n24, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Jones, Melanie K. & Kaya, Ezgi, 2021. "The Gender Pay Gap in UK Medicine," IZA Discussion Papers 14177, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. 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.
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/11717 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. 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.
    12. Wang, Chao & Sweetman, Arthur, 2013. "Gender, family status and physician labour supply," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 17-25.
    13. 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.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. H Gravelle & A Risa Hole, 2008. "Measuring and testing for gender discrimination in professions: the case of English family doctors," Discussion Papers 08/27, Department of Economics, University of York.
    2. 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.
    3. Sonja C. Kassenboehmer & Mathias G. Sinning, 2014. "Distributional Changes in the Gender Wage Gap," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 335-361, April.
    4. Fortin, Nicole & Lemieux, Thomas & Firpo, Sergio, 2011. "Decomposition Methods in Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 1, pages 1-102, Elsevier.
    5. Ramskogler, Paul & Riedl, Aleksandra & Schoiswohl, Florian, 2020. "Swinging female labor demand – How the public sector influences gender wage gaps in Europe," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 302, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    6. Martina Zweimüller & Rudolf Winter‐Ebmer & Doris Weichselbaumer, 2008. "Market Orientation and Gender Wage Gaps: an International Study," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 615-635, November.
    7. C Dougherty, 2003. "Why is the Rate of Return to Schooling Higher For Women Than For Men?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0581, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Noe', Chiara, 2009. "Subject of degree and the gender wage gap: Evidence from Italy," MPRA Paper 47289, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Doris Weichselbaumer & Rudolf Winter‐Ebmer, 2005. "A Meta‐Analysis of the International Gender Wage Gap," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 479-511, July.
    10. Adam Pilny, 2017. "Explaining Differentials in Subsidy Levels Among Hospital Ownership Types in Germany," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(5), pages 566-581, May.
    11. Niels-Hugo Blunch, 2018. "Just like a woman? New comparative evidence on the gender income gap across Eastern Europe and Central Asia," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-41, December.
    12. Dougherty, Christopher, 2003. "Why is the rate of return to schooling higher for women than for men?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20034, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Doris Weichselbaumer & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2007. "The effects of competition and equal treatment laws on gender wage differentials [‘Models of job discrimination’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 22(50), pages 236-287.
    14. Robert Breunig & Sandrine Rospabe, 2005. "Parametric vs. semi-parametric estimation of the male-female wage gap: An application to France," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 2005-458, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
    15. Dominique Meurs & Sophie Ponthieux, 2006. "L'écart des salaires entre les femmes et les hommes peut-il encore baisser ?," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 398(1), pages 99-129.
    16. Ronald Bachmann & Mathias Sinning, 2016. "Decomposing the Ins and Outs of Cyclical Unemployment," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 78(6), pages 853-876, December.
    17. 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.
    18. Ian Watson, 2010. "Decomposing the Gender Pay Gap in the Australian Managerial Labour Market," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 13(1), pages 49-79.
    19. Brian A. Jacob, 2002. "Where the boys aren't: Non-cognitive skills, returns to school and the gender gap in higher education," NBER Working Papers 8964, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Niels-Hugo Blunch, 2015. "Bound to lose, bound to win? The financial crisis and the informal-formal sector earnings gap in Serbia," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-34, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health care financing; physician earnings; wage composition;
    All these keywords.

    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

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ris:sbgwpe:2010_015. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jörg Paetzold (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwsbgat.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.