The gain‐spontaneous recombination characteristics have been calculated for a 40 A˚ Zn0.8Cd0.2Se‐ZnSe quantum well including many body effects. We examine the effect of the inclusion of the Coulomb enhancement on the gain spectra and the gain‐current relationship. We show that, in the absence of the Coulomb enhancement, the threshold current density of a 340 &mgr;m 40 A˚ Zn0.8Cd0.2Se‐ZnSe quantum well laser is underestimated by approximately 40% and the lasing wavelength overestimated by 4 nm. Our calculation of the scattering lifetime for the first electron‐heavy hole transition gives a lifetime varying between 29 and 37 fs, and shows that the carrier‐phonon scattering mechanism in II‐VI quantum wells is more dominant than in III‐V materials. We also comment on the effect the neglect of Coulomb enhancement has on the calculation of leakage currents in a laser at threshold. ©1995 American Institute of Physics.