Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which individual characteristics are related to the decision to become a public sector employee using twin study data matched with register-based, individual-level panel data for the 1991-2009 period. Design/methodology/approach The...

This paper uses data on Finnish twins to examine two questions regarding public sector labour markets. First, what are the genetic and environmental contributions to being a public sector employee, and second, are there wage gaps between public and private sector employees. The results indicate...