Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research - Research Publications

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    A Man's Blessing or a Woman's Curse? The Family Earnings Gap of Doctors
    Schurer, S ; Kuehnle, D ; Scott, A ; Cheng, TC (WILEY, 2016-07)
    We examine the size and determinants of the family earnings gap for Australian general practitioners (GPs). Female GPs with children earn more than $30,000 less than comparable female GPs without children, while male GPs with children earn more than $45,000 more than comparable male GPs without children. The main determinants of the family gap are differences in observable characteristics such as working hours, labor‐force attachment, and demographics, and additionally, for men, entrepreneurship and practice size. A fixed‐effects extension of the analysis confirms both the carer effect of children on female GPs and the breadwinner effect of children on male GPs.
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    Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL)
    Yan, W ; Cheng, TC ; Scott, A ; Joyce, CM ; Humphreys, J ; Kalb, G ; Leahy, A (WILEY-BLACKWELL, 2011-03)
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    An empirical analysis of public and private medical practice in Australia
    Cheng, TC ; Joyce, CM ; Scott, A (ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD, 2013-06)
    The combination of public and private medical practice is widespread in many health systems and has important consequences for health care cost and quality. However, its forms and prevalence vary widely and are poorly understood. This paper examines factors associated with public and private sector work by medical specialists using a nationally representative sample of Australian doctors. We find considerable variations in the practice patterns, remuneration contracts and professional arrangements across doctors in different work sectors. Both specialists in mixed practice and private practice differ from public sector specialists with regard to their annual earnings, sources of income, maternity and other leave taken and number of practice locations. Public sector specialists are likely to be younger, to be international medical graduates, devote a higher percentage of time to education and research, and are more likely to do after hours and on-call work compared with private sector specialists. Gender and total hours worked do not differ between doctors across the different practice types.
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    WHAT FACTORS INFLUENCE THE EARNINGS OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS AND MEDICAL SPECIALISTS? EVIDENCE FROM THE MEDICINE IN AUSTRALIA: BALANCING EMPLOYMENT AND LIFE SURVEY
    Cheng, TC ; Scott, A ; Jeon, S-H ; Kalb, G ; Humphreys, J ; Joyce, C (WILEY-BLACKWELL, 2012-11)
    To date, there has been little data or empirical research on the determinants of doctors' earnings despite earnings having an important role in influencing the cost of health care, decisions on workforce participation and labour supply. This paper examines the determinants of annual earnings of general practitioners (GPs) and specialists using the first wave of the Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life, a new longitudinal survey of doctors. For both GPs and specialists, earnings are higher for men, for those who are self-employed and for those who do after-hours or on-call work. GPs have higher earnings if they work in larger practices, in outer regional or rural areas, and in areas with lower GP density, whereas specialists earn more if they have more working experience, spend more time in clinical work and have less complex patients. Decomposition analysis shows that the mean earnings of GPs are lower than that of specialists because GPs work fewer hours, are more likely to be female, are less likely to undertake after-hours or on-call work, and have lower returns to experience. Roughly 50% of the income gap between GPs and specialists is explained by differences in unobserved characteristics and returns to those characteristics.