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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Engbom, Niklas (New York University); Moser, Christian (Columbia University); Sauermann, Jan (IFAU) |
| Abstract: | We study the nature of firm pay dynamics. To this end, we propose a statistical model that extends the seminal framework by Abowd, Kramarz and Margolis (1999) to allow for idiosyncratically time-varying firm pay policies. We estimate the model using linked employer-employee data for Sweden from 1985 to 2016. By drawing on detailed firm financials data, we show that firms that become more productive and accumulate capital raise pay, whereas firms lower pay as they add workers. A secular increase in firm-year pay dispersion in Sweden since 1985 is accounted for by greater persistence of firm pay among incumbent firms as well as greater dispersion in firm pay among entrant firms, as opposed to more volatile firm pay. |
| Keywords: | earnings inequality, worker and firm heterogeneity, firm dynamics, linked employer-employee data, two-way fixed effects model, akm |
| JEL: | J31 D22 D31 E24 M13 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15014&r= |
| By: | Frederiksen, Anders (Aarhus University); Hansen, Daniel Baltzer Schjødt (Aarhus University); Flaherty Manchester, Colleen (University of Minnesota) |
| Abstract: | Group-based incentive pay is attractive in contexts where production is complex and interdependent, yet freeriding is a paramount concern. We assess the introduction of group-based performance pay in a modern industrial production setting using difference-in-difference estimation. Performance increased by 19 percent, with three quarters coming from increased performance of existing workers and the remaining from selection; workers became more efficient and were absent less often. We find little evidence of freeriding; quantile regressions show increased performance throughout the distribution of workers. Features of the design and implementation process created trust, a common goal, and a shared identity, which limited freeriding. |
| Keywords: | difference-in-differences, performance pay, group-based incentive, freeriding, incentive effects, selection effects, absenteeism, efficiency, performance, productivity, trust |
| JEL: | M5 J33 L23 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14986&r= |
| By: | Sterkens, Philippe; Baert, Stijn; Moens, Eline; Derous, Eva; Wuyts, Joey |
| Abstract: | The existing burnout literature has predominantly focussed on the determinants of burnout, whereas its consequences for individual careers have received little attention. In this study, we investigate whether recently burned-out individuals and persons with a very high risk of clinical burnout differ in job preferences from non-burned-out workers. Moreover, we link these differences in preferences with (1) diverging perceptions of job demands and resources in a job, as well as (2) distinct weighting of such perceptions. To this end, a highquality sample of 582 employees varying in their history and current risk of burnout judged fictitious job offers with experimentally manipulated characteristics in terms of their willingness to apply as well as perceived job demands and resources. We find that recently burned-out employees appreciate possibilities to telework and fixed feedback relatively more, while being relatively less attracted to opportunities for learning on the job. Moreover, employees with a very high risk of burnout are more attracted to part-time jobs. These findings can be partially explained by differences in the perceived resources offered by jobs. |
| Keywords: | burnout,labour market,job search,job preference,factorial survey experiment |
| JEL: | J62 I12 C91 C83 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1036&r= |
| By: | Andrew E. Clark (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Conchita D’ambrosio (Uni.lu - Université du Luxembourg); Rong Zhu (Flinders University [Adelaide, Australia]) |
| Abstract: | We here consider the relationship between workplace gender measures and employees' perceived job quality, where the former cover both the gender mix of workers with the same job title and the gender of the immediate boss. Data from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey show that men's job evaluation is higher in gender-balanced job positions at the workplace, while that of women is higher in either gender-balanced or male-dominated positions. The gender of the immediate boss plays no significant role in employee job evaluation. There is some evidence that these correlations differ by job-quality domains. We introduce co-worker support and help, gender discrimination, and unwanted sexual attention as possible mediators of the gender-mix correlations: these change the estimated coefficients only little. Our estimated correlations could therefore reflect a pure preference for job-position gender composition. Last, we use a bounding approach to show that our main results are robust to the potential influence of unobservables. Overall, job-position gender diversity is associated with higher worker well-being. |
| Keywords: | Perceived job quality,Job-position gender diversity,Gender of immediate boss |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-03467113&r= |
| By: | Jäger, Simon (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Roth, Christopher (University of Warwick); Roussille, Nina (University of California, Berkeley); Schoefer, Benjamin (University of California, Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | Workers wrongly anchor their beliefs about outside options on their current wage. In particular, low-paid workers underestimate wages elsewhere. We document this anchoring bias by eliciting workers' beliefs in a representative survey in Germany and comparing them to measures of actual outside options in linked administrative labor market data. In an equilibrium model, such anchoring can give rise to monopsony and labor market segmentation. In line with the model, misperceptions are particularly pronounced among workers in low-wage firms. If workers had correct beliefs, at least 10% of jobs, concentrated in low-wage firms, would not be viable at current wages. |
| Keywords: | wages, beliefs, bias, monopsony, GSOEP, IAB |
| JEL: | D91 E03 E24 J3 J31 J42 J6 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14963&r= |
| By: | Labanca, Claudio (Monash University); Pozzoli, Dario (Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | Although constraints on hours worked at the firm-level are viewed as an important determinant of firm wages, little direct evidence exists to support this view. In this paper, we use linked employer-employee data on hours worked in Denmark to measure hours constraints and to investigate how these constraints relate to firm wages. We show that firms with stricter constraints pay higher firm-specific wages and that these premiums are concentrated in more productive firms. Starting from these findings we discuss a framework in which hours constraints are motivated by the productivity gains derived from having a more cooperative production process, leading more productive firms to constrain hours and to pay compensating wage differentials. |
| Keywords: | wage differentials, hours constraints, cooperation |
| JEL: | J31 J33 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14992&r= |
| By: | Asaria, Miqdad; Mcguire, Alistair; Street, Andrew |
| Abstract: | There is a prevailing popular belief that expenditure on management by health-care providers is wasteful, diverts resources from patient care, and distracts medical and nursing staff from getting on with their jobs. There is little existing evidence to support either this narrative or counter-claims. We explore the relationship between management and public sector hospital performance using a fixed effects empirical econometric specification on a panel data set consisting of all 129 non-specialist acute National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in England for the financial years 2012/13 to 2018/19. Measures of managerial input and quality of management practice are constructed from NHS Electronic Staff Records and NHS Staff Survey data. Hospital accounts and Hospital Episode Statistics data are used to construct five measures of financial performance and of timely and high-quality care. We find no evidence of association either between quantity of management and management quality or directly between quantity of management and any of our measures of hospital performance. However, there is some evidence that higher-quality management is associated with better performance. NHS managers have limited discretion in performing their managerial functions, being tightly circumscribed by official guidance, targets, and other factors outside their control. Given these constraints, our findings are unsurprising. |
| Keywords: | personnel management; analysis of health care markets; firm performance; size; diversification and scope; panel data models; labor force and employment; structure; Visiting Research Fellowship |
| JEL: | C33 I11 J21 L25 M12 |
| Date: | 2021–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:113312&r= |
| By: | Andelic, Nicole (University of Aberdeen); Allan, Julia (University of Aberdeen); Bender, Keith A. (University of Aberdeen); Powell, Daniel (University of Aberdeen); Theodossiou, Ioannis (University of Aberdeen) |
| Abstract: | Much of the literature on performance-related pay (PRP) and poor health relies on self-reported data, and the relationship is particularly difficult to examine due to confounding variables. To address these limitations we examine three groups of health measures using data from the UKHLS: blood pressure (n=5667), inflammation markers in blood (n=4025) and self-reported health (n=6120). Physiological markers of health allow us to circumvent some of the issues associated with self-reported measures and by using size of firm and % share of PRP workers in occupation we also statistically control for some of the endogeneity associated with self-selection bias. Regressions correcting for self-selection bias and socio-demographic covariates find that PRP contracts are associated with poorer self-reported mental health, higher systolic blood pressure and higher levels of fibrinogen. These findings have implications for firms that use PRP as they may need to implement policies to mitigate against stress. |
| Keywords: | performance-related pay, health, sample selection |
| JEL: | J33 M52 I1 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15000&r= |
| By: | Eberhardt, Markus (University of Oxford); Facchini, Giovanni (University of Nottingham); Rueda, Valeria (University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | Academia, and economics in particular, faces increased scrutiny because of gender imbalance. This paper studies the job market for entry-level faculty positions. We employ machine learning methods to analyze gendered patterns in the text of 9,000 reference letters written in support of 2,800 candidates. Using both supervised and unsupervised techniques, we document widespread differences in the attributes emphasized. Women are systematically more likely to be described using "grindstone" terms and at times less likely to be praised for their ability. Given the time and effort letter writers devote to supporting their students, this gender stereotyping is likely due to unconscious biases. |
| Keywords: | gender, natural language processing, stereotyping, diversity |
| JEL: | J16 A11 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15055&r= |