The Price of COVID-19 Risk in a Public University

TL;DR

This study examines how COVID-19 occupational risk was allocated and compensated at Auburn University, revealing systematic disparities in risk exposure and associated pay differences among instructors during the pandemic.

Contribution

It introduces an IV approach using classroom features to identify how risk influences instructor compensation in a university setting.

Findings

Lower-ranked instructors faced higher COVID-19 risk.

Riskier classes correlated with an average $7,400 pay increase.

Classroom features effectively shifted perceived risk levels.

Abstract

We study the allocation of and compensation for occupational COVID-19 risk at Auburn University, a large public university in the U.S. In Spring 2021, approximately half of the face-to-face classes had enrollments above the legal capacity allowed by a public health order, which followed CDC social distancing guidelines. We find lower-ranked graduate student teaching assistants and adjunct instructors were systematically recruited to deliver riskier classes. Using an IV strategy in which teaching risk is shifted by classroom features (geometry and furniture), we show instructors who taught at least one risky class earned $7,400 more than those who did not.