Use of labor economic theory to examine hours worked by male and female pharmacists

Purpose. The objectives of this study were to develop a theoretically deriv ed model of hours worked by pharmacists and estimate the model separately f or male and female pharmacists. Methods. A systematic random sample of 1,600 pharmacists from four states w as mailed a survey asking about current and past employment information. Tw o dependent variables were studied: weekly hours worked and annual hours wo rked. Independent variables were categorized as economic variables (hourly wage rate, other income, total debt) and demographic variables (employment position, age, degree earned, marital status, number of children at home). A two equation multiple regression model was estimated with two-stage least squares regression. Results. A total of 541 pharmacists responded to the survey and data from 4 42 of the respondents were used in the analysis. Hourly wage rates were neg atively associated with weekly hours worked for males. Other income and tot al debt were significantly negatively and positively associated, respective ly, with annual hours worked by female pharmacists. The number of young chi ldren at home significantly reduced weekly and annual hours worked by femal e pharmacists. Female pharmacists earning a Pharm.D. degree worked signific antly more hours weekly and annually. Age was significantly negatively asso ciated with male pharmacists weekly and annual hours worked. Conclusions. Economic variables had a relatively small effect on hours work ed by male and female pharmacists suggesting that increased wage rates may not increase hours worked. Strategies to increase hours worked by females l ikely should focus on benefits to help females handle childcare issues.