Foreign‐born nurses in the US labor market

Edward J. Schumacher

Health Economics, 2011, vol. 20, issue 3, 362-378

Abstract: This paper examines immigration and the wages of foreign and native nurses in the US labor market. Data from the Current Population Survey identifies a worker's country of birth and the National Survey of Registered Nurses (NSRN) identifies nurses who received their basic training outside the US. In 2004 about 3.1% of the registered nurse (RN) workforce is foreign‐born non‐US citizens, and 3.3% received their basic education elsewhere. The principal countries of origin are the Philippines, Canada, India, and England. Regression results show a 4.5% lower wage for non‐citizen nurses born outside of the US (Canadian nurses are an exception). The wage disadvantage is concentrated on foreign‐born nurses new to the US; once a nurse has been in the US for 6 years there is no longer a significant penalty. Results from the NSRN show relatively little overall wage differences between RNs who received their basic training outside versus inside the US, but there is a significant wage disadvantage for those new to the US market. The presence of foreign‐trained nurses appears to decrease earnings for native RNs, but the effects are small. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:20:y:2011:i:3:p:362-378

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