Pay Differentials between Federal Government and Private Sector Workers

To analyze the system of pay determination in the federal sector, particularly the development & application in the 1960s of the comparability principle, data were obtained from subsamples drawn from the summary tapes of the Public Use Samples for the 1960 & 1970 censuses. Subsamples consist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial & labor relations review 1976-01, Vol.29 (2), p.179-197
Main Author: Smith, Sharon P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civil service
Comparison/Comparisons/Comparative/Comparability
Employment
Employment statistics
Federal
Federal/Federalism
Govern/Governing/Government/ Governmental/ Governments
Government
On the job training
Privacy/Private
Private sector
Salary
Sector/Sectors
Studies
Wage differential
Wage rate
Wage/Wages
Wages
Workers
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Summary:To analyze the system of pay determination in the federal sector, particularly the development & application in the 1960s of the comparability principle, data were obtained from subsamples drawn from the summary tapes of the Public Use Samples for the 1960 & 1970 censuses. Subsamples consisted of selected housing & personal data on all civilian members of the LF 18 years or older residing in Del, Md, Va, or DC. Subsamples were divided into federal employed (1960, N = 2,773, & 1970, N = 5,100) & private employed (1960, N = 19,690, & 1970, N = 22,396). It was found that federal wage rates & earnings exceeded those of private workers by large amounts. Up to 65% of the differentials can be attributed to discrimination or "economic rent." In both years a substantial portion of these % differentials remains unattributable to measured differences in productivity between the two categories of workers or to differences in the stability of employment in either or both sectors. The comparability doctrine provides a necessary guideline for federal pay determination, but in its current form, it is upward biased. 3 Tables. W. A. Maesen.
ISSN:0019-7939
2162-271X
DOI:10.1177/001979397602900201