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Wage Levels and Method of Pay

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Author Info
Charles Brown

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Abstract

The traditional research on method of pay and wages compares those paid piece rates with those paid by the hour, and finds (as predicted by the theory) that those paid piece rates earn more. In this paper, those paid by the hour are divided into those paid standard rates (wage does not vary with performance) and those paid by merit pay plans. An extension of the standard theory predicts that those paid piece rates would have the highest earnings, and those paid standard rates the lowest, with merit pay an "in between" status. The evidence, however, from the Industry Wage Surveys is that those under merit pay receive lower wages than those in the other two groups.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 3336.

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Date of creation: Apr 1990
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:3336

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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.:
  1. Lazear, Edward P & Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 841-64, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Charles Brown, 1990. "Firms' choice of method of pay," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 43(3), pages 165-182, February.
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  3. Green, Jerry R & Stokey, Nancy L, 1983. "A Comparison of Tournaments and Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(3), pages 349-64, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Robert Gibbons & Kevin J. Murphy, 1990. "Relative performance evaluation for chief executive officers," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 43(3), pages 30-51, February.
  5. Jonathan S. Leonard, 1990. "Executive pay and firm performance," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 43(3), pages 13-29, February.
  6. Bengt Holmstrom, 1979. "Moral Hazard and Observability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 74-91, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Barry J. Nalebuff & Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1983. "Prices and Incentives: Towards a General Theory of Compensation and Competition," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(1), pages 21-43, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Richard B. Freeman, 1982. "Union wage practices and wage dispersion within establishments," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 36(1), pages 3-21, October.
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  9. 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)
  10. Lundberg, Shelly J & Startz, Richard, 1983. "Private Discrimination and Social Intervention in Competitive Labor Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(3), pages 340-47, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. O'Keeffe, Mary & Viscusi, W Kip & Zeckhauser, Richard J, 1984. "Economic Contests: Comparative Reward Schemes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 27-56, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Robert Gibbons & Kevin Murphy, 1989. "Relative Performance Evaluation for Chief Executive Officers," Working Papers 628, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Harris, Milton & Raviv, Artur, 1979. "Optimal incentive contracts with imperfect information," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 231-259, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. 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.
  15. Jeremy I. Bulow & Lawrence H. Summers, 1986. "A Theory of Dual Labor Markets with Application to Industrial Policy, Discrimination and Keynesian Unemployment," NBER Working Papers 1666, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Lazear, Edward P, 1986. "Salaries and Piece Rates," Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(3), pages 405-31, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. John Pencavel, 1975. "Work Effort On-the-Job Screening, and Alternative Methods of Remuneration," Working Papers 443, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
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  1. W.D. McCausland & K. Pouliakas & I. Theodossiou, 2005. "Some are Punished and Some are Rewarded: A Study of the Impact of Performance Pay on Job Satisfaction," Labor and Demography 0505019, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Fred Henneberger & Alfonso Sousa-Poza & Alexandre Ziegler, 2007. "Performance Pay, Sorting, and Outsourcing," IZA Discussion Papers 3019, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Daniel Parent, 2001. "Incentive Pay in the United States: Its Determinants and Its Effects," CIRANO Working Papers 2001s-04, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
  4. repec:ese:iserwp: is not listed on IDEAS
  5. Alison L. Booth & Marco Francesconi, 2000. "Collectivism versus Individualism: Performance-related Pay and Union Coverage for Non-standard Workers in Britain," ILR working papers 061, Institute for Labour Research. [Downloadable!]
  6. Edward P. Lazear & Kathryn L. Shaw, 2007. "Personnel Economics: The Economist's View of Human Resources," NBER Working Papers 13653, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Bradley Ewing & Phanindra Wunnava, 2002. "The Trade-Off Between Supervision Cost and Performance-Based Pay: Does it Matter?," Middlebury College Working Paper Series 0232, Middlebury College, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Daniel Parent, 2001. "The Effect of Pay-for-Performance Contracts on Wages," CIRANO Working Papers 2001s-05, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Felipe Balmaceda, . "Compensation Methods in Competitive Labor Markert," ILADES-Georgetown University Working Papers inv118, Ilades-Georgetown University, School of Economics and Bussines. [Downloadable!]
  10. Edward P. Lazear, 1996. "Performance Pay and Productivity," NBER Working Papers 5672, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Tuomas Pekkarinen & Chris Riddell, 2006. "Performance Pay and Earnings: Evidence from Personnel Records," IZA Discussion Papers 2253, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Daniel Parent, 1997. "Methods of Pay and Earnings: A Longitudinal Analysis," CIRANO Working Papers 97s-14, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Felipe Balmaceda, 2002. "Compensation Methods in a Competitive Labor Market: the Role of Asymmetric Information," Documentos de Trabajo 139, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile. [Downloadable!]
  14. Felipe Balmaceda, 2004. "Uncertainty, Pay for Performance and Adverse Selection in a Competitive Labor Market," Documentos de Trabajo 196, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile. [Downloadable!]
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