Abstract
Compensating wages have been documented for a number of job attributes including working non-standard hours. Using data that aggregates across occupations, our analysis confirms a wage premium for working night shifts. However, the compensating wage is greater in areas where unemployment is low, suggesting that employers are less pressured to compensate for night shifts when employment opportunities are relatively scarce. If this result holds for other undesirable work characteristics, such as risk of death on the job, then weak labor markets will have lower compensating wages in general.
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DeBeaumont, R., Nsiah, C. Unemployment and compensating wages: an analysis of shift work. J Econ Finance 34, 142–149 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12197-009-9093-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12197-009-9093-3