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Patronage and Public-Sector Wages in 1896

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  • Troesken, Werner

Abstract

Few systematic studies of the effects of patronage on public-sector employees' wages and working conditions exist. Exploiting a sample of nearly 90,000 workers, this article provides systematic evidence: Where patronage was widespread, state and local employees earned 40 percent more per hour; worked 16 to 17 percent fewer hours; and earned 22 percent more per week than comparable private-sector workers. Public-sector wage premia varied; low-skilled workers, and workers in Baltimore and New York, enjoyed relatively large wage premia. Wages were less dispersed in the public sector than in the private, suggesting that pay scales reflected politics, not marginal products.

Suggested Citation

  • Troesken, Werner, 1999. "Patronage and Public-Sector Wages in 1896," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(2), pages 424-446, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:59:y:1999:i:02:p:424-446_02
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    Cited by:

    1. Werner Troesken, 2003. "Lead Water Pipes and Infant Mortality in Turn-of-the-Century Massachusetts," NBER Working Papers 9549, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Margo, Robert A. & Finegan, T. Aldrich, 2002. "The Great Compression of the 1940s: The Public versus the Private Sector," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 183-203, April.
    3. Werner Troesken, 2006. "Regime Change and Corruption. A History of Public Utility Regulation," NBER Chapters, in: Corruption and Reform: Lessons from America's Economic History, pages 259-281, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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