The Earnings and Consulting Income of US Health Economists: Results from the 2012 Survey of the American Society of Health Economists

© 2015 American Society of Health Economists and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This paper presents data from the first-ever survey of members of the American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon) that was conducted in 2012. We present summary statistics of health economist earnings by rank and type of employer, and estimate log earnings models as a function of education, experience, type of employer, and research productivity. The results indicate that (1) academic salaries for health economists have risen in real terms since the previous survey in 2005; (2) we find no statistically significant evidence of disparities in academic salaries between men and women, or between whites and nonwhites; (3) there is a salary premium associated with earning a PhD at one of the top economics departments; and (4) we cannot reject the null hypothesis of no difference in salary by type of employer. We also report on the extent of consulting activities, and provide the first published data on the hourly consulting rates charged by health economists.

The Earnings and Consulting Income of US Health Economists: Results from the 2012 Survey of the American Society of Health Economists Academic Article