IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp15474.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does Performance Pay Influence Hours of Work?

Author

Listed:
  • 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Green, Colin P. & Heywood, John S., 2022. "Does Performance Pay Influence Hours of Work?," IZA Discussion Papers 15474, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15474
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp15474.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bryan, Mark & Bryson, Alex, 2016. "Has performance pay increased wage inequality in Britain?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 149-161.
    2. Benjamin Artz & John S. Heywood, 2015. "Performance Pay and Workplace Injury: Panel Evidence," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82, pages 1241-1260, December.
    3. Mehrzad B. Baktash & John S. Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn, 2022. "Performance pay and alcohol use in Germany," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 353-383, October.
    4. Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe & Struewing, Cornelia, 2017. "Locus of control and performance appraisal," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 205-225.
    5. Heywood, John S. & Wei, Xiangdong & Ye, Guangliang, 2011. "Piece rates for professors," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 113(3), pages 285-287.
    6. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk, 2011. "Performance Pay and Multidimensional Sorting: Productivity, Preferences, and Gender," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(2), pages 556-590, April.
    7. Edward P. Lazear, 2000. "Performance Pay and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1346-1361, December.
    8. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Schurer, Stefanie, 2012. "The stability of big-five personality traits," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 11-15.
    9. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Stefanie Schurer, 2013. "Two Economists' Musings on the Stability of Locus of Control," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0, pages 358-400, August.
    10. Allan, Julia L. & Andelic, Nicole & Bender, Keith A. & Powell, Daniel & Stoffel, Sandro & Theodossiou, Ioannis, 2021. "Employment contracts and stress: Experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 360-373.
    11. Keith A. Bender & Ioannis Theodossiou, 2014. "The unintended consequences of the rat race: the detrimental effects of performance pay on health," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 824-847.
    12. Shrathinth Venkatesh, 2022. "The emerging college hours premium for men," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 191-207, March.
    13. Jed DeVaro, 2022. "Performance pay, working hours, and health‐related absenteeism," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 327-352, October.
    14. Benjamin Artz & Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood, 2021. "Does performance pay increase alcohol and drug use?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(3), pages 969-1002, July.
    15. Andelic, Nicole & Allan, Julia & Bender, Keith A. & Powell, Daniel & Theodossiou, Ioannis, 2022. "Performance-Related Pay and Objective Measures of Health after Correcting for Sample Selection," IZA Discussion Papers 15000, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Anne C. Gielen, 2011. "Profit Sharing for Increased Training Investments," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(4), pages 643-665, December.
    17. Claudio Labanca & Dario Pozzoli, 2022. "Constraints on Hours within the Firm," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(2), pages 473-503.
    18. Baktash, Mehrzad B. & Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2022. "Worker stress and performance pay: German survey evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 276-291.
    19. Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood, 2011. "Profit Sharing, Separation and Training," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(4), pages 623-642, December.
    20. Jed DeVaro & John S. Heywood, 2017. "Performance Pay and Work-Related Health Problems," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(3), pages 670-703, May.
    21. Toupin, Dominic & LeBel, Luc & Dubeau, Denise & Imbeau, Daniel & Bouthillier, Luc, 2007. "Measuring the productivity and physical workload of brushcutters within the context of a production-based pay system," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(8), pages 1046-1055, May.
    22. Green, Colin P. & Heywood, John S., 2010. "Profit sharing and the quality of relations with the boss," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 859-867, October.
    23. Colin Green & John S. Heywood, 2008. "Does Performance Pay Increase Job Satisfaction?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 75(300), pages 710-728, November.
    24. Jones, Michael D., 2013. "Teacher behavior under performance pay incentives," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 148-164.
    25. John Pencavel, 2015. "The Productivity of Working Hours," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(589), pages 2052-2076, December.
    26. Foster, Andrew D & Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1994. "A Test for Moral Hazard in the Labor Market: Contractual Arrangements, Effort, and Health," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(2), pages 213-227, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Artz, Benjamin & Heywood, John S., 2022. "Performance Pay and Work Hours: US Survey Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 15412, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Green, Colin P. & Heywood, John S., 2023. "Performance pay, work hours and employee health in the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Artz, Benjamin & Heywood, John S., 2022. "Performance Pay and Work Hours: US Survey Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 15412, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Baktash, Mehrzad B. & Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2022. "Worker stress and performance pay: German survey evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 276-291.
    4. Benjamin Artz & Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood, 2021. "Does performance pay increase alcohol and drug use?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(3), pages 969-1002, July.
    5. Mehrzad B. Baktash & John S. Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn, 2022. "Performance pay and alcohol use in Germany," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 353-383, October.
    6. Baktash, Mehrzad B. & Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2023. "Does Performance Pay Increase the Risk of Marital Instability?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1305, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Allan, Julia L. & Andelic, Nicole & Bender, Keith A. & Powell, Daniel & Stoffel, Sandro & Theodossiou, Ioannis, 2021. "Employment contracts and stress: Experimental evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 360-373.
    8. Baktash, Mehrzad B., 2023. "Overeducation, Performance Pay and Wages: Evidence from Germany," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1327, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Alex Bryson & Andrew E. Clark & Colin P. Green, 2021. "Footsie, Yeah! Share Prices and Worker Wellbeing," DoQSS Working Papers 21-26, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    10. Uwe Jirjahn & Jens Mohrenweiser, 2019. "Performance Pay and Applicant Screening," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(3), pages 540-575, September.
    11. Nicole Andelic & Julia Allan & Keith A. Bender & Daniel Powell & Ioannis Theodossiou, 2024. "Performance‐related pay, mental and physiological health," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 3-25, January.
    12. Keith Bender & Colin Green & John Heywood, 2012. "Piece rates and workplace injury: Does survey evidence support Adam Smith?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 569-590, January.
    13. David Butler & Robert Butler & Robert Simmons, 2022. "Contracts, pay and performance in the sport of kings: Evidence from horse racing," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(1), pages 152-175, March.
    14. Andrew E Clark & Rong Zhu, 2023. "Taking Back Control? Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Retirement on Locus of Control," Working Papers halshs-04335808, HAL.
    15. Gong, Xiaodong & Zhu, Rong, 2019. "Cognitive abilities, non-cognitive skills, and gambling behaviors," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 51-69.
    16. Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood, 2016. "Don't Forget the Gravy! Are Bonuses Just Added on Top of Salaries?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 490-513, July.
    17. Artz, Benjamin & Heywood, John S., 2020. "Unions, Worker Participation and Worker Well-Being," GLO Discussion Paper Series 705, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Cornelissen, Thomas & Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2011. "Performance pay, risk attitudes and job satisfaction," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 229-239, April.
    19. Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe & Struewing, Cornelia, 2017. "Locus of control and performance appraisal," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 205-225.
    20. Bryson, Alex & Clark, Andrew E. & Freeman, Richard B. & Green, Colin P., 2016. "Share capitalism and worker wellbeing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 151-158.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    performance related pay; working hours;

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15474. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.