The Value of Working Conditions in the United States and Implications for the Structure of Wages.
This paper documents variation in working conditions among workers in the United States,
presents new estimates of how workers value these conditions, and assesses their impact
on estimates of the wage structure. We use evidence from a series of stated preference
experiments to estimate workers’ willingness-to-pay for a broad set of job characteristics and
which we validate with actual job choices. We find that working conditions vary substantially
across workers, play a significant role in job choice decisions, and are central components of the
compensation received by workers. Preferences vary by demographic groups and throughout the
wage distribution. We find that accounting for differences in preferences for working conditions
often exacerbates wage differentials and intensifies measures of wage inequality.