Sezin Zengin Farias Martinez
Published: 2016
Total Pages: 190
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There has in the U.S. been a shortage of registered nurses (RNs) for decades. Thus, policy makers would like to know what factors might increase the labor supply from currently trained nurses. In an attempt to provide insights into such factors, the determinants of the labor supply for female RNs are examined using two large micro datasets: the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN) and the 2008 American Community Survey (ACS). Each dataset includes over 30,000 RNs' and their demographic characteristics and work characteristics. One set of hypotheses addressed in the dissertation involves the factors that cause currently trained RNs to work and when they work, is it fulltime or part time. The estimation procedure for this part of the dissertation is a bivariate probit model. A second set of hypotheses addresses the question about the factors impacting whether or not a nurse works and if she does, how many hours she works. This portion of the dissertation relies on a standard maximum likelihood selection model. Key variables include the RN wage, other family income and the composition of the nurse’s household. Area factors relating to characteristics of the market in which the nurse worked are also discussed in the context of their effectiveness as variables that might help predict the labor supply. The results indicate that the RN wage is not an important determinant of the labor force participation decision, both in the work no work and fulltime part time bivariate probit models as well as the maximum likelihood participation-hours model. However, in the fulltime part time portion of the bivariate probit estimates, the RN wage was negatively related to working fulltime, as it also was in the hours equation. ☐ The estimation results are corrected for potential selection bias. Selection bias was shown to exist in the models. Labor supply models for female RNs have been estimated separately by marital status and also whether the nurse lived in a metropolitan statistical area or not. ☐ The empirical literature on RN labor supply is brought together and comparisons are made with other studies in the literature of the labor supply of females in the general population and nurses. The results with respect to the key variables such as the nurse wage, other family income, and the family composition of the nurse’s household are consistent with the nurse labor supply literature
