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The impacts of human resource management practices and pay inequality on workers' job satisfaction

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Author Info
Steve Bradley
Alina Petrescu
Rob Simmons
Abstract

In this paper we investigate the relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and workers' overall job satisfaction and their satisfaction with pay. To investigate these issues we use British data from the 'Changing Employment Relationships, Employment Contracts and the Future of Work Survey' and the 'Workplace Employment Relations Survey'. After controlling for personal, job and firm characteristics, it is shown that several HRM practices raise workers overall job satisfaction and their satisfaction with pay, but these effects are only significant for non-union members. Satisfaction with pay is higher where performance-related pay and seniority-based reward systems are in place. A pay structure that is perceived to be unequal is associated with a substantial reduction in both non-union members' overall job satisfaction and their satisfaction with pay. Although HRM practices can raise worker job satisfaction, if workplace pay inequality widens as a consequence then non-union members may experience reduced job satisfaction.

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Paper provided by Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department in its series Working Papers with number 000276.

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Date of creation: 2004
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Handle: RePEc:lan:wpaper:000276

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Keywords: Job satisfaction HRM practices union members pay inequality

References listed on IDEAS
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.:

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  2. Ichniowski, Casey & Shaw, Kathryn & Prennushi, Giovanna, 1997. "The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: A Study of Steel Finishing Lines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 291-313, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Saziye Gazioglu & Aysit Tansel, 2003. "Job Satisfaction in Britain: Individual and Job Related Factors," ERC Working Papers 0303, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Apr 2003. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Oswald, Andrew, 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 478, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Paul Osterman, 1994. "How common is workplace transformation and who adopts it?," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 47(2), pages 173-188, January.
  7. Stephen Machin & Stephen Wood, 2004. "Looking for HRM/Union Substitution: Evidence from British Workplaces," CEP Discussion Papers dp0605, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Robert Gibbons, 1998. "Incentives in Organizations," NBER Working Papers 6695, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Freeman, Richard B, 1978. "Job Satisfaction as an Economic Variable," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 68(2), pages 135-41, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Baker, George & Gibbons, Robert & Murphy, Kevin J, 1994. "Subjective Performance Measures in Optimal Incentive Contracts," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(4), pages 1125-56, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Gibbons, Robert, 1998. "Incentives in Organizations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 115-32, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Boselie, J.P.E.F. & Wiele, A. van der, 2001. "Employee Perceptions of HRM and TQM and the Effects on Satisfaction and INtention to Leave," Research Paper ERS-2001-42-ORG Revision_, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni. [Downloadable!]
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  20. Sandra E. Black & Lisa M. Lynch, 2004. "What's driving the new economy?: the benefits of workplace innovation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(493), pages F97-F116, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  21. John Addison & Stanley Siebert & Joachim Wagner & Xiangdong Wei, 2000. "Worker Participation and Firm Performance: Evidence from Germany and Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 7-48, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Canice Prendergast, 1999. "The Provision of Incentives in Firms," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 7-63, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  23. Peter B. Doeringer & Christine Evans-Klock & David G. Terkla, 1998. "Hybrids or hodgepodges? Workplace practices of Japanese and domestic startups in the United States," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 51(2), pages 171-186, January.
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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. Andrew E. Clark, 2005. "Your Money or Your Life: Changing Job Quality in OECD Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 1610, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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