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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Mehrzad B. Baktash; John S. Heywood; Uwe Jirjahn |
| Abstract: | Using German survey data, we show that performance pay is associated with a substantially lower gender hours gap. While performance pay increases the work hours of both men and women, the increase is much larger for women than for men. This finding persists in worker fixed effects estimates. We argue our finding likely reflects differences in household production and specialization by gender. Thus, we show that performance pay is not associated with hours increasing for men with children in the household. Yet, performance pay is associated with a very large increase in hours for women with children in the household. |
| Keywords: | Performance Pay, Contracted Hours, Actual Hours, Gender |
| JEL: | D10 J22 J33 M52 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trr:wpaper:202408&r= |
| By: | Martins, Pedro S.; Ferreira, João R. |
| Abstract: | We evaluate a political reform in Portugal that introduced individual teacher performancerelated pay and tournaments in public schools. We find that the focus on individual performance decreased student achievement, as measured in national exams, and increased grade inflation. The results follow from a difference-in-differences analysis of matched student-school panels and two complementary control groups: public schools in regions that were exposed to lighter reforms; and private schools, whose teachers had their incentives unchanged. Students in public schools with a higher proportion of teachers exposed to the tournament also perform worse. Overall, our results highlight the potential social costs from disruption of cooperation amongst public sector workers due to competition for promotions. |
| Keywords: | Tournaments, Public Sector, Teacher Merit Pay, Matched School-Student Data |
| JEL: | I21 M52 I28 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1441&r= |
| By: | Koch, Michael (Aarhus University); Lodefalk, Magnus (Örebro University School of Business) |
| Abstract: | We use individual survey data providing detailed information on stress, technology adoption, and work, worker, and employer characteristics, in combination with recent measures of AI and robot exposure, to investigate how new technologies affect worker stress. We find a persistent negative relationship, suggesting that AI and robots could reduce the stress level of workers. We furthermore provide evidence on potential mechanisms to explain our findings. Overall, the results provide suggestive evidence of modern technologies changing the way we perform our work in a way that reduces stress and work pressure. |
| Keywords: | Artificial intelligence technologies; Automation; Task content; Skills; Stress |
| JEL: | I31 J24 J28 J44 N34 O33 |
| Date: | 2024–06–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2024_005&r= |
| By: | Agnes Norris-Keiller; John Van Reenen |
| Abstract: | Climate change is making natural disasters more frequent, yet little is known about the capacity of firms to withstand such disasters and adapt to their increased frequency. We examine this issue using the latest wave of the World Management Survey (WMS) that includes new questions on firms' climate change perceptions and adaptation behaviour. Combining this with geocoded data on natural disasters and previous WMS waves, we create a panel spanning 8, 000 firms across 33 countries and three decades that shows exposure to disasters decreases growth inputs, outputs and firm survival. More importantly, firms with structured management practices are more resilient, suffering much smaller drops in jobs and capital. To understand the mechanisms behind this resilience, we use the new WMS climate questions to show better managed firms have more accurate perceptions of climate-related risks to their businesses. Such firms are also more likely to have implemented measures to adapt to climate change both overall and in response to their perceived climate risk. Other aspects of firm organisation, such as decentralisation, also help protect against disasters, but their adaptation behaviour is not well-targeted. These results show that improving management is one way to help protect economies from climate change shocks. |
| Keywords: | climate, natural disasters, management practices, firm performance |
| Date: | 2024–06–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2007&r= |
| By: | Fahn, Matthias (University of Linz); Murooka, Takeshi (Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how labor-market tightness affects market outcomes if firms use informal, self-enforcing, agreements to motivate workers. We characterize profit-maximizing equilibria and show that an increase in the supply of homogenous workers can increase wages. Moreover, even though all workers are identical in terms of skills or productivity, profit-maximizing discrimination equilibria exist. There, a group of majority workers are paid higher wages than a group of minority workers, who may even be completely excluded. Minimum wages can reduce such discrimination and increase employment. We discuss how these results relate to empirical evidence on downward wage rigidity, immigration, the gender pay gap, and credentialism. |
| Keywords: | informal incentives, labor supply, immigration, wage discrim- ination, minimum wage |
| JEL: | D21 D86 J21 J38 J61 J71 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17042&r= |