Occupational Social Value and Returns to Long Hours

This paper examines the phenomenon of uncompensated long hours in jobs with pro-social characteristics and presents evidence that long-hour wage premiums and occupational social value are substitutes in compensating salaried workers who supply hours exceeding the standard workweek. I show that the social value of an occupation, in particular the degree to which jobs involve helping or providing service to others, is inversely related to long-hour pay. Allowing for heterogeneity in the degree to which workers value their job's helping orientation allows me to explore how gender differences in employees' attitudes toward pro-social behavior can explain some of the observed occupational sorting trends and gender differences in long-hour compensation. Women tend to be more strongly drawn to "helping" occupations and at the same time receive lower long-hour premiums in these jobs relative to men. I offer a theoretical framework to rationalize the empirical trends.