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on Human Capital and Human Resource Management |
| By: | Pineda-Hernández, Kevin; Rycx, François; Volral, Mélanie; Waroquier, Alexandre |
| Abstract: | While rent-sharing is known to vary according to worker characteristics, the impact of profits on the gender wage gap warrants closer examination. Most studies adopt a single-gender view, neglecting factors tied to bargaining power. Our paper aims to fill this gap by leveraging rich matched employer-employee data covering the Belgian private sector from 1999 to 2016 and by examining whether the relationship between rent-sharing and gender depends on variables reflecting bargaining power, i.e. level of education, field of study, tenure, occupation and type of wage agreement. Accounting for a wide range of individual, job and firm characteristics, and addressing potential endogeneity issues, we find a wage-profit elasticity of 2.8%, which does not differ statistically between women and men. Our results further indicate that firms share more of their profits with workers who have greater bargaining power, as assessed by our moderators. This result holds overall for both women and men, so that the price effect associated with rent-sharing is generally insignificant in explaining the gender wage gap. Conversely, given that women, regardless of their bargaining power, tend to be employed in less profitable firms than their male counterparts, the quantity effect associated with rent-sharing appears to play a non-negligible role. In short, our findings suggest that it is not so much the unequal sharing of profits within companies that fuels the gender pay gap, but rather the segregation of women, particularly those with limited bargaining power, into less profitable companies. |
| Keywords: | Rent-sharing, linked employer-employee data, wage decompositions, instrumental variables, gender wage gap, bargaining power |
| JEL: | C26 J16 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1709 |
| By: | Abi-Esber, Nicole; Greer, Lindred L.; De Hoogh, Annebel H. B. |
| Abstract: | We introduce the concept of hierarchical adaptability, which we define as a team’s relative capability to repeatedly and bidirectionally shift between different shapes of its influence hierarchy (i.e., more hierarchical or flatter) across tasks, while the team’s formal hierarchy remains constant. We provide a first investigation of the effects of team hierarchical adaptability, proposing that team hierarchical adaptability enables teams to achieve better coordination and team performance outcomes as they move across different tasks, compared to consistently hierarchical or flat teams. Five multimethod studies, including field data of intact teams and a laboratory experiment of interacting teams, provide support for our hypotheses. |
| JEL: | J50 |
| Date: | 2025–12–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:130868 |
| By: | Weikl, Jan |
| Abstract: | Performance-contingent pay raises productivity, yet in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) only about 16% of workers report receiving performance pay, with the incidence being roughly seven percentage points higher among university graduates than among non-graduates. This coexistence of low aggregate take-up and a strong skill gradient is puzzling. This paper accounts for these twin facts with a principal-agent model in which the entire preference vector-risk aversion, probability weighting, time discounting, and effort cost-varies systematically with schooling. Endogenizing preferences yields two predictions: (i) optimal incentive slopes and induced effort increase with education-linked preferences; (ii) the productivity threshold for accepting performance pay falls with schooling, while heterogeneity in tastes keeps worker participation incomplete. A light calibration guided by documented schooling gradients reproduces modest overall incidence alongside a pronounced skill gradient. The key novelty is to treat the preference vector as an endogenous state variable that enters both sides of the principal-agent problem, shaping the optimisation problems of both the firm and the worker rather than being taken as a fixed primitive. |
| Abstract: | Leistungsabhängige Vergütung steigert die Produktivität. Im Sozio-Ökonomischen Panel (SOEP) berichten jedoch nur rund 16 % der Beschäftigten, leistungsbezogene Entlohnung zu erhalten. Zugleich liegt die Inzidenz unter Hochschulabsolventen um etwa sieben Prozentpunkte höher als unter Nicht-Absolventen. Dieses Nebeneinander aus geringer Gesamtverbreitung und ausgeprägtem Bildungsgradienten ist erklärungsbedürftig. Diese Arbeit erklärt beide Befunde in einem Prinzipal-Agenten-Modell, in dem der gesamte Präferenzvektor systematisch mit dem Bildungsniveau variiert. Die Endogenisierung von Präferenzen liefert zwei Implikationen: (i) optimale Anreizintensitäten und die induzierte Anstrengung steigen mit bildungsbezogenen Präferenzparametern; (ii) die Produktivitätsschwelle für die Akzeptanz leistungsabhängiger Vergütung sinkt mit dem Bildungsniveau, während Präferenzheterogenität die Teilnahme insgesamt unvollständig hält. Eine einfache Kalibrierung, welche sich an dokumentierten Bildungsgradienten orientiert, repliziert eine moderate Gesamtinzidenz bei gleichzeitig starkem Qualifikationsgradienten. Der Beitrag dieser Arbeit besteht darin, den Präferenzvektor als endogene Zustandsvariable zu modellieren, die die Optimierungsprobleme von Unternehmen und Beschäftigten gleichermaßen bestimmt, statt exogen vorgegeben zu sein. |
| Keywords: | performance pay, incentives, risk preferences, time discounting, contract theory |
| JEL: | D81 D82 D86 J24 J33 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:faulre:336772 |
| By: | Marius Guenzel; Shimon Kogan; Marina Niessner; Kelly Shue |
| Abstract: | Human capital—encompassing cognitive skills and personality traits—is central for labor-market success, yet personality remains difficult to measure at scale. Leveraging advances in AI and comprehensive LinkedIn microdata, we extract the Big 5 personality traits from facial images of 96, 000 MBA graduates, and demonstrate that this novel “Photo Big 5” predicts school rank, job matching, compensation, job transitions, and career advancement. The Photo Big 5 provides predictive power comparable to race, attractiveness, and educational background, and is only weakly correlated with cognitive measures such as test scores. We show that individuals systematically sort into occupations where their personality traits are valued and earn higher wages when traits align with occupational demands. While the scalability of the Photo Big 5 enables new academic insights into the role of personality in labor markets, its growing use in industry screening raises important ethical concerns regarding statistical discrimination and individual autonomy. |
| JEL: | D91 J2 M5 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34808 |
| By: | Donghyun Suh; Samil Oh |
| Abstract: | Using a representative survey of Korean workers, we provide evidence on the adoption of Generative AI (GenAI) and how GenAI reallocates time at work. We find that 51.8\% of workers use GenAI for work and GenAI reduces working time by 3.8\%. However, these gains may not materialize in aggregate productivity statistics yet: the correlation between time savings and output changes is near zero. We show this disconnect arises because workers capture efficiency gains primarily as on-the-job leisure, rather than increasing their output. These findings suggest that standard productivity measures may understate AI's impact by missing non-pecuniary welfare channels. |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2602.12695 |
| By: | Cevat Giray Aksoy; Jose Maria Barrero; Nicholas Bloom; Katelyn Cranney; Steven J. Davis; Mathias Dolls; Pablo Zarate |
| Abstract: | We establish three facts about work from home (WFH) in the United States. First, employees WFH more often at younger firms – almost twice as often at firms founded after 2015 than at firms founded before 1990. Second, employees working under younger CEOs have higher levels of WFH. The average WFH rate is 1.4 days per week when the CEO is under 30, compared to 1.1 days when the CEO is 60 or older. Third, the self-employed WFH more than twice as often as wage-and-salary employees. These facts highlight the importance of organizational and managerial attributes for the prevalence of WFH. |
| JEL: | J0 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34795 |
| By: | Szymczak, Wiebke |
| Abstract: | Agency theory holds that managerial discretion over stakeholder decisions creates agency costs through altruistic redistribution. We test this claim in a principal-agent experiment where agents choose effort and transfers affecting a third party under unenforceable flat-wage contracts. We find that principals set ethically constrained targets and wages that track fairness benchmarks. Agents, however, do not divert resources to stakeholders: transfers are negative on average, and prosocial traits do not increase giving. Instead, contract terms, though unenforceable, systematically shape effort, transfers, and returns. Notably, prosocial agents generate higher total returns. Prosociality appears to mitigate rather than create efficiency losses, suggesting that discretion channels norm-sensitive loyalty rather than stake-holder redistribution. |
| Keywords: | agency theory, behavioral contracts, corporate social responsibility, experimental economics, managerial discretion, prosocial motivation |
| JEL: | C91 D23 D64 G30 M52 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:336907 |
| By: | Nicholas Bloom; Christos Makridis |
| Abstract: | Using new data from the Gallup Workforce Panel, we document a persistent partisan gap in self-reported AI use at work: Democrats are consistently more likely than Republicans to report frequent use. In 2025:Q4, for example, 27.8% of Democrats report using AI weekly or daily, compared with 22.5% of Republicans. Democrats also report deeper task-level integration, using AI in 16% more work activities than Republicans. Consistent with this, Democrats are employed in occupations with higher predicted AI exposure based on task-content measures and report larger perceived differences in AI-related job displacement risk. However, in regression models the partisan gap in AI use disappears once we control for education, industry, and occupation, indicating that observed differences primarily reflect compositional variation rather than political affiliation per se. |
| JEL: | J0 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34813 |
| By: | Zercher, Désirée; Jussupow, Ekaterina; Heinzl, Armin |
| Abstract: | Generative AI has advanced capabilities, enabling these systems to participate as teammates in human teams. Yet, the potential consequences of including an AI teammate for team climate have yet to be explored. Thus, we investigate how shared decisional ownership between humans and AI, as well as the perception of AI as a teammate affect team climate (including its subdimensions). We conducted an experiment with 85 participants in 35 teams collaborating with a generative AI teammate on a team decision-making task. We demonstrate that human decisional ownership improves team climate, while AI decisional ownership has a non-significant negative impact. However, when AI is perceived as a teammate, its decisional ownership also enhances team climate. The qualitative analysis provides additional insights into how these perceptions emerge. Our findings provide a nuanced understanding of the mechanisms of team-AI collaboration that shape team climate and offer practical guidance for fostering a positive team climate. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:158981 |
| By: | Thibault Mirabel (Capital Collectif); Aurélien Quignon (ICN Business School) |
| Abstract: | This article examines the relationship between employee ownership and technological innovation. The impact of worker cooperatives' democratic governance on innovation is debated-some highlight financial constraints and slow decision-making as disadvantages, while others emphasize participatory structures and knowledge-sharing as advantages for innovation. Using a balanced panel of French worker cooperatives from 2014 to 2018, we find nuanced relationship: the share of worker-owners among workers positively influences innovation, whereas the share of worker-owners among owners negatively impacts innovation, providing empirical evidence for both the advantage and disadvantage hypotheses. Regional spillover effects also play a significant role. These findings challenge the notion that worker cooperatives are inherently less innovative than conventional firms and highlight the importance of ownership distribution and external conditions in shaping innovation outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Employee ownership, Worker participation, Worker cooperative, Innovation, Entrepreneurship |
| Date: | 2025–12–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05430064 |