Wage expectation, information and the decision to become a nurse
Contrary to common perceptions, the expected wage plays a positive and statistically significant role in the decision to become a nurse. Further, understating a nurse’s wage decreases the probability of becoming one. The empirical results lead to two important policy implications. First, increasing the wage may help to overcome the shortage observed in many countries. Second, providing information on the (relative) wage may be a successful strategy to attract more individuals into this profession.
On the influence of job characteristics on the attractiveness of nursing jobs in Germany
We find that, first, attractiveness of care jobs is most strongly affected by rather “soft”characteristics such as atmosphere within the team and time for patients. “Hard” factors play a considerably smaller role. Second, one hard factor, contract duration, is estimated to be among the most important job factors, however. This is a remarkable finding given that nursing occupations suffer from severe skill shortages. Third, though wage has a statistically significant influence on attractiveness, enormous wage raises would be needed in order to yield higher attractiveness gains than the top-rated soft factors, or to compensate for less pleasant job characteristics with respect to those factors. Last, even after controlling for other job characteristics, hospital nursing is still rated as more attractive than geriatric nursing.
Der Armutsdiskurs aus ökonomischer Perspektive: Beitrag und Grenzen der neoklassisch-neoliberalen Konzeption
in: Siegfried Müller, Ulrich Otto (Hrsg.), Armut im Sozialstaat. Gesellschaftliche Analysen und sozialpolitische Konsequenzen, Luchterhand Verlag, Neuwied, Kreftel und Berlin 1997, S. 171-209
