The authors argue that paid providers of care services in the United States (in health, education, and social service industries) are less able than providers of business services to capture value-added or to extract rents because limited consumer sovereignty, incomplete information regarding quality, and large positive externalities reduce their relative market power. In addition, many care jobs enforce normative responsibility for others and require specific skills that limit cross-industry mobility. Analysis of Current Population Survey data for 2014 to 2019 reveals significant pay penalties in care services relative to business services, controlling for factors such as gender, education, occupation, and public or private employment. Women’s concentration in care services explains a significant proportion of the gender wage gap and raises the possibility of significant potential benefits from industry-level bargaining strategies.

作者认为，由于消费者主权有限、质量信息不完整，美国的付费护理服务提供商（在健康、教育和社会服务行业）在获取增值或获取租金方面的能力不如商业服务提供商, 大的正外部性降低了它们的相对市场力量。此外，许多护理工作对他人强制执行规范责任，并需要限制跨行业流动的特定技能。对 2014 年至 2019 年当前人口调查数据的分析显示，在控制性别、教育、职业以及公共或私人就业等因素的情况下，护理服务相对于商业服务的薪酬处罚显着。