  The discovery of infinite-layer nickelate superconductors has spurred
enormous interest. While the Ni$^{1+}$ cations possess nominally the same
3$d^9$ configuration as Cu$^{2+}$ in cuprates, the electronic structure
variances remain elusive. Here, we present a soft x-ray photoemission
spectroscopy study on parent and doped infinite-layer Pr-nickelate thin films
with a doped perovskite reference. By identifying the Ni character with
resonant photoemission and comparison to density functional theory + U (on-site
Coulomb repulsion energy) calculations, we estimate U ~5 eV, smaller than the
charge transfer energy $\Delta$ ~8 eV, confirming the Mott-Hubbard electronic
structure in contrast to charge-transfer cuprates. Near the Fermi level
($E_F$), we observe a signature of occupied rare-earth states in the parent
compound, which is consistent with a self-doping picture. Our results
demonstrate a correlation between the superconducting transition temperature
and the oxygen 2$p$ hybridization near $E_F$ when comparing hole-doped
nickelates and cuprates.
