American Economic Review Vol. 113 No. 7 2023

The Value of Working Conditions in the United States and Implications for the Structure of Wages

Nicole Maestas¹; Kathleen J. Mullen²; David Powell³; Till von Wachter⁴; Jeffrey B. Wenger³

¹ Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard University (email: ) · ² Department of Economics, University of Oregon (email: ) · ³ Economics, Sociology and Statistics Department, RAND Corporation (email: ) · ⁴ Department of Economics, UCLA (email: )

Abstract

We document variation in working conditions in the United States, present estimates of how workers value these conditions, and assess the impact of working conditions on estimates of wage inequality. We conduct a series of stated-preference experiments to estimate workers’ willingness to pay for a broad set of working conditions, which we validate with actual job choices. We find that working conditions vary substantially, play a significant role in job choice, and are central components of the compensation received by workers. We find that accounting for differences in preferences for working conditions often exacerbates wage differentials and intensifies measures of wage inequality.

DOI

10.1257/aer.20190846

Volume

113

Issue

7

Pages

2007-2047

Language

en

Sources

bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite

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