Volume 14, Number 1 (Winter) 1979
Quinn, Joseph F. 1979. "Wage Differentials Among Older Workers in the Public and Private Sectors." Journal of Human Resources 14(1):41-62.
Wages in the public sector are often on the basis of comparisons with compensation in the private sector. There are reasons to suspect that this approach may result in government pay schedules that exceed those in the private sector. In this paper, with a human capital model of wage determination and a sample of older male workers, we compare wages in federal, state, and local public administration with those in the private sector, after adjusting for differences in personal and geographic characteristics. We find that the wage gaps that do exist cannot be completely explained by human capital and locational variables. Fringe benefits, job stability, and the attractiveness of the job environment also appear to be greater in the public sector.
The author is Assistant Professor of Economics, Boston College. This research was done while the author was a visiting assistant professor at the Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, and was supported by funds granted to the Institute by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare pursuant to the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The data were collected and provided by the Office of Research and Statistics of the Social Security Administration. I would like to thank Steve Woodbury, Joel Bolonick, and Nancy Williamson for their assistance, and Howard Chernick, Douglas A. Smith, Geoff Woglon, and an anonymous referee for comments on an earlier draft.
© 2003 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X