Volume 18, Number 1 (Winter) 1983
Marder, William D., and Douglas E. Hough. 1983. "Medical Residency as Investment in Human Capital." Journal of Human Resources 18(1):49-64.
A wealth-maximizing model of the demand for investment in human capital is applied to the investments made by resident physicians. Residents work long hours for relatively low salaries in order to gain exposure to learning opportunities that ultimately enhance future income. A model of hospital supply of investment opportunities is also developed which emphasizes the trade-off the hospital must make between providing additional patient care and employee training. In the past the inability to quantify on-the-job training investment has precluded direct empirical investigation of this decision. A unique data set allows the simultaneous examination of the demand for and supply of learning opportunities; the results generally confirm the theory.
The authors are Research Economists, Center for Health Policy Research,
American Medical Association.
Conclusions and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the official
position of the American Medical Association.
© 2003 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X