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The Employer Size-Wage Effect

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Author Info
Charles Brown
James L. Medoff
Abstract

We consider six explanations for the positive relationship between employer size and wages -- large employers (1) hire higher quality workers; (2) offer inferior working conditions; (3) make more use of high wages to forestall unionization; (4) have more ability to pay high wages; (5) face smaller pools of applicants relative to vacancies; (6) are less able to monitor their workers. We find some support for the first of these, but there remains a significant wage premium for those working for large employers.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 2870.

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Date of creation: Dec 1989
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Publication status: published as Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 97, No. 5, pp. 1027-1059, (October 1989)
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2870

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  1. Harry J. Holzer & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1988. "Job Queues and Wages: New Evidence on the Minimum Wage and Inter-Industry Wage Structure," NBER Working Papers 2561, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Pugel, Thomas A, 1980. "Profitability, Concentration and the Interindustry Variation in Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 62(2), pages 248-53, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Weiss, Andrew & Landau, Henry J, 1984. "Wages, Hiring Standards, and Firm Size," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 477-99, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Garen, John E, 1985. "Worker Heterogeneity, Job Screening, and Firm Size," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(4), pages 715-39, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Zvi Griliches & Jerry A. Hausman, 1984. "Errors in Variables in Panel Data," NBER Technical Working Papers 0037, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Dennis J. Aigner & Glen G. Cain, 1977. "Statistical theories of discrimination in labor markets," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 30(2), pages 175-187, January.
  7. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-38, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Lazear, Edward P, 1986. "Salaries and Piece Rates," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(3), pages 405-31, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Yellen, Janet L, 1984. "Efficiency Wage Models of Unemployment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(2), pages 200-205, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Masters, Stanley H, 1969. "An Interindustry Analysis of Wages and Plant Size," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 51(3), pages 341-45, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Evans, David S. & Leighton, Linda S., 1987. "Why do Smaller Firms Pay Less?," Working Papers 87-19, C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York University. [Downloadable!]
  12. Mellow, Wesley, 1982. "Employer Size and Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(3), pages 495-501, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Richard B. Freeman, 1981. "The effect of unionism on fringe benefits," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 34(4), pages 489-509, July.
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