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Pay transparency: How much disclosure do employees want?

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  • Heisler, William

Abstract

Pay transparency remains an important issue today in compensation practices within business organizations. Much of the discussion surrounding pay transparency, however, treats it as a unidimensional concept and does not explore employee preferences regarding the type and level of disclosure. This study provides insight into how much and what kind of data about pay employees truly seek from employers. Using the Prolific data-collection platform for academic research, a survey was administered to 600 participants from a pool of nearly 2,500 full-time US employees of companies listed on a US stock exchange. The survey results indicate that a majority of employees want to know more about how compensation is determined and prefer that pay grades/ranges be disclosed for all jobs in an organization. But considerable differences in preferences exist between generations concerning the disclosure of individual pay data. Disclosure preferences were also compared with perceptions regarding the existence of gender and racial pay gaps. Employees who perceive that significant gender and racial pay disparities exist within organizations prefer higher levels of pay disclosure. The findings from this survey may assist organizations in developing policies and practices related to the disclosure of pay data.

Suggested Citation

  • Heisler, William, 2026. "Pay transparency: How much disclosure do employees want?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 43-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:69:y:2026:i:1:p:43-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2024.11.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Morten Bennedsen & Elena Simintzi & Margarita Tsoutsoura & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2022. "Do Firms Respond to Gender Pay Gap Transparency?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(4), pages 2051-2091, August.
    2. Michael Baker & Yosh Halberstam & Kory Kroft & Alexandre Mas & Derek Messacar, 2023. "Pay Transparency and the Gender Gap," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 157-183, April.
    3. Trotter, Richard G. & Zacur, Susan Rawson & Stickney, Lisa T., 2017. "The new age of pay transparency," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 529-539.
    4. Heisler, William, 2021. "Increasing pay transparency: A guide for change," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 73-81.
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