Preferences of physicians for public and private sector work

Table 1 Attributes and levels

Characteristic	Levels of the characteristic
Change in earnings	20% increase
	No change
	20% decrease
Change in total hours worked	10% decrease
	No change
	10% increase
On-call arrangements	1 in 2, frequently called out
	1 in 4, frequently called out
	1 in 4, infrequently called out
	1 in 10, frequently called out
Percentage of time in private practice	10%
	50%
	90%
Teaching/research opportunities	No teaching or research
	Some teaching
	Some research
	Some teaching and research
Time spent in administration	5%
	10%
	15%
Location	Metro-based with option to visit regional communities
	Metro-based
	Large regional centre

Effects coding is used for the following attributes: on-call, teaching/research opportunities, and location. The teaching/research attribute, which consists of four levels, is dichotomised into none or some in the analysis presented here, because constructing the status quo accurately with all four levels was difficult. All the other attributes are treated as continuous variables, and a linear functional form in the respondents’ utility function is assumed

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