Preferences of physicians for public and private sector work

Table 2 Characteristics of specialists responding to the DCE (n = 3422)

	Mean	sd	N	min	max
Proportion female	0.28	0.45	3422	0	1
Age	50.22	9.98	3408	31	89
Proportion with Australian medical degree	0.8	0.4	3422	0	1
Proportion with dependent children	0.69	0.46	3422	0	1
Proportion living with spouse	0.89	0.31	3134	0	1
Mean job satisfaction (5 = very satisfied)	3.21	0.82	3341	1	5
Job characteristics^a:
Annual earnings ($ before tax)^b	325811	248106	2873	1000	3.33 m
Weekly working hours^b	45.33	14.48	3422	0.8	120
1 in 2, frequently called out	0.19	0.39	3422	0	1
1 in 10, frequently called out	0.09	0.29	3422	0	1
1 in 4, frequently called out	0.25	0.43	3422	0	1
1 in 4, infrequently called out	0.47	0.5	3422	0	1
Proportion of time spent in private sector	0.44	0.39	3422	0	1
10% of time spent in private sector (< 30%)^c	0.45	0.5	3422	0	1
50% of time spent in private sector (30–69%)^c	0.20	0.4	3422	0	1
90% of time spent in private sector (> 70%)^c	0.35	0.48	3422	0	1
No teaching or research	0.22	0.41	3422	0	1
Some teaching or research	0.78	0.41	3422	0	1
Proportion of time spent on administration	0.10	0.13	3422	0	1
5% of time spent on administration (< 7.5%)^d	0.57	0.5	3422	0	1
10% time spent on administration (7.5–12.4%)^d	0.17	0.37	3422	0	1
15% of time spent on administration (> 12.5%)^d	0.26	0.44	3422	0	1
Metro-based	0.70	0.46	3422	0	1
Metro-based with option to visit regional communities	0.14	0.35	3422	0	1
Large regional centre^e	0.16	0.37	3422	0	1

^aJob characteristics are those that are used to construct the levels of the status quo alternative in the DCE based on questions from the MABEL survey
^bFor earnings and working hours, the level of the DCE attribute was set to 0% change
^cFor the proportion of time spent in the private sector, respondents actual time was allocated to each attribute level in bands, so for example those with less than 30% of their time in the private sector were assigned to the 10% level in the DCE to best represent their actual level
^dFor time spent on administration, respondent’s actual time was assigned to each attribute level in bands, so for example respondents who spent less than 7.5% of their time ion administration were allocated to the 5% category in the DCE
^eThis level includes all doctors in all non-metropolitan areas: 12.16% in inner regional areas, 2.78% in outer regional areas, and 0.67% in remote areas (based on Australian Standard Geographic Classification: ASGC)

ISSN: 1478-4491