The earnings of U.S. health economists

This paper presents data from a 2005 survey of health economists who were U.S. members of the International Health Economics Association or the Health Economics Special Interest Group of Academy Health. We present summary statistics of health economist earnings by rank and type of employer, estimate log earnings models as a function of education, experience, type of employer, and research productivity, and provide summary statistics of starting salaries expected to be offered to new Ph.D. health economists by type of employer. Our findings are compared to those for economics departments, business schools, schools of public health, and for health services researchers.