Differences in income between male and female physicians

Abstract

Previous studies suggest that female physicians earn less on average from the practice of medicine than their male counterparts even after differences in personal characteristics are taken into account. In our study of sex differences in physician earnings, we estimate hourly earnings equations for 1982 using a specification that controls for differences in personal characteristics between male and female physicians more completely than the specification used in previous studies. We also employ more precise estimators for the unexplained earnings differential. Our results suggest that previous studies have overstated the unexplained differential in hourly earnings. We find that female physicians in 1982 earned 12-13 percent less than male physicians due to discrimination or unexplained factors.