Racial/Ethnic Pay Disparities among Registered Nurses (s) in U.S. Hospitals: An Econometric Regression Decomposition

Objective

To detect the presence of racial and ethnic pay disparities between minority and white hospital 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 s are employed within the most densely populated (central) counties of metropolitan statistical areas (s), only hospital s employed in the central counties of s were selected.

Principal Findings

Regression decomposition found that black and Hispanic s earned less than whites and Asians, while Asian s earned more than white s. The majority of pay variation between white s, versus Asian, black, or Hispanic s was due to unexplained differences in the value of the same characteristic between groups.

Conclusions

Differences in earnings between underrepresented and overrepresented hospital s is suggestive of discrimination.