Smith, Richard
(2019).
An experimental investigation of social preferences, their determinants and their role in the labour supply function.
[Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex:
Economic and Social Research Council.
10.5255/UKDA-SN-850566
Data description (abstract)
Social preferences (concern that people have for others' well-being) are potentially very relevant to understanding the decision to work in the public sector, such as health care; a number of surveys suggest the importance of vocational motivation ("helping the community") or altruism ("serving others") for example.
A greater understanding of the role that social preferences have is critical to the future management of human resources within healthcare. Virtually all countries are experiencing a shortage of public sector nurses. However, research on nurses working decisions and interventions to encourage greater enrolment, retention and return of nurses to the public sector has overlooked social preferences (most focus on financial determinants and inducements).
The work proposed here will address this current deficit. A rich set of experimental and survey data of actual choices will allow several analyses to be undertaken that will inform the nature, determinants and influence of social preferences concerning the labour supply decisions of nurses in three developing countries. This will, more broadly, inform both the policy community on designing more effective policy interventions to encourage worker enrolment, retention and return, and the research community on the form and role of social preferences in public worker labour supply decisions.
| Data creators: |
| Creator Name |
Affiliation |
ORCID (as URL) |
| Smith Richard |
London Sch of Hygiene and Trop Medicine |
|
|
| Contributors: |
| Name |
Affiliation |
ORCID (as URL) |
| Lagarde Mylene |
|
|
| Hanson Kara |
|
|
|
| Sponsors: |
Economic and Social Research Council
|
| Grant reference: |
RES-000-22-3068
|
| Topic classification: |
Labour and employment
|
| Date published: |
24 Nov 2011 12:00
|
| Last modified: |
08 May 2019 10:04
|
| Collection period: |
| Date from: | Date to: |
|---|
| 1 December 2008 | 30 November 2010 |
|
| Country: |
Kenya, South Africa, Thailand |
| Data collection method: |
Our data collection consisted in several surveys, carried out in 3 countries.
The project was embedded in a cohort study of nurses across Kenya, South Africa and Thailand. In each country, nursing colleges were selected at random in rural and urban regions, and nursing students about to graduate and enter the labour market were invited to participate. We enrolled 342 nursing students in Thailand, 377 in South Africa and 345 in Kenya. During the baseline of this cohort study (2008) students took part in experimental economic games that were specifically designed for the present project. In addition, as part of the broader study, a range of socio-demographic information was collected.
All respondents participated in two experimental economic games:
- a dictator game (DG), where participants had to allocate an initial endowment between themselves and one of three recipient types (student, patient or impoverished)
- a game which consisted of a series of pair-wise choices where participants chose between two possible money allocations between themselves and a patient. The game presented various institutions to investigate nurses’ social preferences and the effects of some mechanisms that might affect pro-social attitudes.
Economics students in each country were subjected to the same experiments to enable comparison between nurses and “standard” subjects to such games (Thailand= 127, Kenya=55, South Africa=55).
As part of the cohort study, nursing students were followed up at one year to record the actual employment status (public vs. private sector, rural vs. urban location). A significant attrition rate reduced the number of nurses who could be interviewed. Only 238 and 177 could be reached for a follow-up interview respectively in Thailand and Kenya. In South Africa, nurses complete a two-year compulsory service, and thus are unable to make a choice until the end of 2010, beyond the period of this study. |
| Observation unit: |
Individual |
| Kind of data: |
Numeric |
| Type of data: |
Experimental data
, Qualitative and mixed methods data |
| Resource language: |
English |
|
| Data sourcing, processing and preparation: |
Consent agreements were obtained from all participants who were told that anonymity of responses would be guaranteed. This is the reason why each respondent is identified with a unique study identifier.
|
| Rights owners: |
| Name |
Affiliation |
ORCID (as URL) |
| Smith Richard |
London Sch of Hygiene and Trop Medicine |
|
|
| Contact: |
| Name | Email | Affiliation | ORCID (as URL) |
|---|
| Smith, Richard | Richard.Smith@lshtm.ac.uk | London Sch of Hygiene and Trop Medicine | Unspecified |
|
| Notes on access: |
The Data Collection is available for download to users registered with the UK Data Service.
|
| Publisher: |
Economic and Social Research Council
|
| Last modified: |
08 May 2019 10:04
|
|
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