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Incentives for Managers and Inequality Among Workers: Evidence from a Firm Level Experiment

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Author Info
Orana Bandiera
Iwan Barankay
Imran Rasul

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Abstract

We present evidence from a firm level experiment in which we engineered an exogenous change in managerial compensation from fixed wages to performance pay based on the average productivity of lower-tier workers. Theory suggests that managerial incentives affect both the mean and dispersion of workers’ productivity through two channels. First, managers respond to incentives by targeting their efforts towards more able workers, implying that both the mean and the dispersion increase. Second, managers select out the least able workers, implying that the mean increases but the dispersion may decrease. In our field experiment we find that the introduction of managerial performance pay raises both the mean and dispersion of worker productivity. Analysis of individual level productivity data shows that managers target their effort towards high ability workers, and the least able workers are less likely to be selected into employment. These results highlight the interplay between the provision of managerial incentives and earnings inequality among lower-tier workers.

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Paper provided by The Field Experiments Website in its series Natural Field Experiments with number 0015.

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Date of creation: 2006
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Handle: RePEc:feb:natura:0015

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Related research
Keywords: managerial incentives; targeting; selection; earnings inequality;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects

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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Sabrina Teyssier, 2008. "Experimental Evidence on Inequity Aversion and Self-Selection between Incentive Contracts," Working Papers 0821, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique (GATE), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Université Lyon 2, Ecole Normale Supérieure. [Downloadable!]
  2. Helen Simpson, 2007. "Productivity in Public Services," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 07/164, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Jirjahn, Uwe & Kraft, Kornelius, 2008. "Teamwork and Intra-Firm Wage Dispersion among Blue-Collar Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 3291, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Tsuyoshi Tsuru, 2008. "Incentives, Gaming, and the Nonlinear Pay Scheme: Evidence from Personnel Data in a Large Japanese Auto Sales Firm," Discussion Paper Series a510, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University. [Downloadable!]
  5. W. Stanley Siebert & Nick Zubanov, 2009. "Management economics in a large UK retailer," CPB Discussion Papers 125, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  6. Charles Bellemare & Bruce Shearer, 2007. "Gift Exchange within a Firm: Evidence from a Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 2696, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Sabrina Teyssier, 2008. "Les Modes de Rémunération comme MécanismesSélectifs de la Main d’oeuvre : Fondements Théoriques et Estimations Empiriques," Post-Print halshs-00303703_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
  8. Sabrina Teyssier, 2008. "Les Modes de Rémunération comme Mécanismes Sélectifs de la Main d’oeuvre : Fondements Théoriques et Estimations Empiriques," Working Papers 0818, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique (GATE), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Université Lyon 2, Ecole Normale Supérieure. [Downloadable!]
  9. Christos Genakos & Mario Pagliero, 2009. "Risk Taking and Performance in Multistage Tournaments: Evidence from Weightlifting Competitions," CEP Discussion Papers dp0928, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  10. Siebert, W. Stanley & Zubanov, Nikolay, 2008. "Management Economics in a Large Retail Organization," IZA Discussion Papers 3645, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  11. Sabrina Teyssier, 2008. "Experimental Evidence on Inequity Aversion and Self-Selection between Incentive Contracts," Post-Print halshs-00303727_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
  12. Antoni Cunyat & Randolph Sloof, 2008. "Employee Types and Endogenous Organizational Design," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 08-019/1, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
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