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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Green, Colin P. (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)); Heywood, John S. (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) |
| Abstract: | A large body of research links performance pay to poorer worker health. The exact mechanism generating this link remains in doubt. We examine a common suspect, that performance pay causes employees to work longer hours in pursuit of higher pay. Using representative data for the UK, we demonstrate that performance pay is associated with more work hours and a higher probability of working long hours. Yet approximately two thirds of these differences reflect worker sorting rather than behavioral change. The remaining influence appears too small to generate the differences in health except for blue-collar occupations that we isolate. |
| Keywords: | performance related pay, working hours |
| JEL: | J22 J33 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15474&r= |
| By: | Fabling, Richard (Independent Researcher); Maré, David C. (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust); Stevens, Philip |
| Abstract: | We use linked employer-employee microdata for New Zealand to examine the relationship between firm-level productivity, wages and workforce composition. Jointly estimating production functions and firm- level wage bill equations, we compare migrant workers with NZ-born workers, through the lens of a derived "productivity-wage gap" that captures the difference in relative contribution to output and the wage bill. Whether we look at all industries using a common production function, or separately estimate results for the five largest sectors, we find that skilled and long-term migrants make contributions to output that exceed moderately-skilled NZ-born workers, with that higher contribution likely being due to a mix of skill differences and/or effort which is largely reflected in higher wages. Conversely, migrants that are not on skilled visas are associated with lower output and lower wages than moderately-skilled NZ-born, also consistent with a skills/effort narrative. The share of employment for long-term migrants has grown over time (from 2005 to 2019) and we show that their relative contribution to output appears to be increasing over the same period. Finally, we present tentative evidence that high-skilled NZ-born workers make a stronger contribution to output when they work in firms with higher migrant shares, which is suggestive of complementarities between the two groups or, at least, positive mutual sorting of these groups into higher productivity firms. |
| Keywords: | migrant labour, firm productivity, worker sorting, wage determinants, quality-adjusted labour input |
| JEL: | D24 J15 J31 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15482&r= |
| By: | Sayli, Melisa (University of Surrey); Moscelli, Giuseppe (University of Surrey); Blanden, Jo (University of Surrey); Bojke, Chris (University of Leeds); Mello, Marco (University of Surrey) |
| Abstract: | Excessive turnover reduces the stock of an organization's human capital. In the public sector, where wage increases are often constrained, managers need to leverage non-monetary working conditions to retain their workers. We investigate whether workers are responsive to improvements in non-wage aspects of their job by evaluating the impact on nurse retention of a programme that encouraged public hospitals to increase staff retention through data monitoring and improving the non-pecuniary aspects of nursing jobs. Employing rich employee-level administrative data from the universe of English NHS hospitals, and a staggered difference-in-difference design, we find that the programme has improved nursing retention within hospitals and decreased exits from the public hospital sector. Our results indicate that a light-touch intervention can shift management behavior and improve hospital workforce turnover. These findings are important in sectors affected by labor supply shortages, and they are especially policy-relevant in the health care context, where such shortages have potentially negative effects on patient outcomes. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, workforce retention, non-monetary incentives, hospital care, staggered difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | J32 J38 J45 J63 I11 C22 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15480&r= |
| By: | Andrew Caplin; Minjoon Lee; Søren Leth-Petersen; Johan Saeverud; Matthew D. Shapiro |
| Abstract: | How worker productivity evolves with tenure and experience is central to economics, shaping, for example, life-cycle earnings and the losses from involuntary job separation. Yet, worker-level productivity is hard to identify from observational data. This paper introduces direct measurement of worker productivity in a firm survey designed to separate the role of on-the-job tenure from total experience in determining productivity growth. Several findings emerge concerning the initial period on the job. (1) On-the-job productivity growth exceeds wage growth, consistent with wages not being allocative period-by-period. (2) Previous experience is a substitute, but a far less than perfect one, for on-the-job tenure. (3) There is substantial heterogeneity across jobs in the extent to which previous experience substitutes for tenure. The survey makes use of administrative data to construct a representative sample of firms, check for selective non-response, validate survey measures with administrative measures, and calibrate parameters not measured in the survey. |
| JEL: | J24 J30 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30342&r= |
| By: | Gregory-Smith, Ian (University of Sheffield); Bryson, Alex (University College London); Gomez, Rafael (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines discrimination in the NFL draft. The NFL is a favourable empirical setting to examine the role of skin colour because franchise selectors are required to make rank-order judgements of players based on noisy signals of future productivity. Since wages are tightly related to the rank-order of the draft for the first four years of a player's career, even if discrimination plays only a marginal role in selection, there could be a large discriminatory impact. We observe large unadjusted racial differences in drafting. However, much of the variation is explained by Black and White players selecting into different playing positions. Conditional upon a large set of control variables, including athletic performance at a marque selection event (the NFL combine), we do not find robust evidence of racial discrimination in NFL drafting between 2000 and 2018. |
| Keywords: | discrimination, race, NFL |
| JEL: | J15 J24 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15473&r= |
| By: | Gavoille, Nicolas (Stockholm School of Economics, Riga); Hazans, Mihails (University of Latvia) |
| Abstract: | The future of teleworking ultimately depends on its impact on workers' productivity and wellbeing, yet the effect of remote working on productivity is not well understood. This paper investigates the link between personality traits and workers' productivity when working from home. We exploit a survey providing measures of the "Big Five" personality traits for more than 1700 recent teleworkers. We document strong links between personality, productivity, and willingness to work from home post-pandemic. Ceteris paribus, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience are positively associated with a higher productivity from home, especially for females. On the other hand, the link between Extraversion and preference for teleworking is negative. These results suggest that a one-size-fits-all policy is unlikely to maximize neither firms' productivity nor workers' satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | personality traits, teleworking, work from home, productivity, COVID-19 |
| JEL: | J24 J32 J81 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15486&r= |