Early-career income trajectories among physicians and dentists : the significance of ethnicity

Abstract

This article analyses early-career income trajectories among non-Western immigrant and native-born physicians and dentists in Norway. Register data comprising all medical and dental graduates from Norwegian universities dating from 1990 through 2005 are utilised. The results show that, on average, immigrants and native-born individuals display similar income trajectories; however, they do have somewhat different earnings profiles. Among employed professionals, immigrants receive lower income premiums as a result of job change but receive higher returns from tenure. There are no income differences among self-employed professionals.