The male–female gap in physician earnings: evidence from a public health insurance system
利用奥地利某省2000-2004年公共社保机构记录的医生收入数据，发现女性医生平均收入比男性低约32%，其中20-47%无法由个人和市场特征解释，可能源于劳动力市场歧视。
Empirical evidence from US 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%. A substantial share of this gap (20-47%) cannot be explained by individual and market characteristics, leaving labor market discrimination as one possible explanation for the observed gender earnings difference of physicians.