The labor supply of registered nurses in Finland: the effect of wages and working conditions

Abstract

Many countries report, to varying degrees, of suffering from a shortage of nurses. We examined both pecuniary and non-pecuniary factors that may be associated with nurses' labor supply. We approximated a classical labor supply model and calculated the wage elasticities of hours of work and participation. Even though the wage elasticity was quite small, the effect on the hours supplied was significant. However, wages alone may not sufficiently increase the labor supply from the current stock of nurses; other elements, such as contractual conditions, seem to play an important role as well.