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Racial/Ethnic Pay Disparities among Registered Nurses ( RN s) in U.S. Hospitals: An Econometric Regression Decomposition
Author(s) -
Moore Jean,
Continelli Tracey
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1475-6773
pISSN - 0017-9124
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6773.12337
Subject(s) - ethnic group , demography , earnings , multivariate statistics , regression analysis , metropolitan area , medicine , statistics , geography , mathematics , economics , sociology , accounting , pathology , anthropology
Objective To detect the presence of racial and ethnic pay disparities between minority and white hospital RN s using a national sample. Data Sources/Study Setting The National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, 2008, which is representative at both the state and national level. Study Design Cross‐sectional data were analyzed using multivariate regression and regression decomposition. Differences between groups were decomposed into differences in the possession of characteristics and differences in the value of the same characteristic between different groups, the latter being a commonly used measure of wage discrimination. Data Collection/Extraction Methods As the majority of minority hospital RN s are employed within the most densely populated (central) counties of metropolitan statistical areas ( MSA s), only hospital RN s employed in the central counties of MSA s were selected. Principal Findings Regression decomposition found that black and Hispanic RN s earned less than whites and Asians, while Asian RN s earned more than white RN s. The majority of pay variation between white RN s, versus Asian, black, or Hispanic RN s was due to unexplained differences in the value of the same characteristic between groups. Conclusions Differences in earnings between underrepresented and overrepresented hospital RN s is suggestive of discrimination.