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What Happens Within Firms? A Survey of Empirical Evidence on Compensation Policies

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  • Canice Prendergast

Abstract

with the compensation policies of firms. This literature is considered from the perspective of three major theories: human capital, learning, and incentives. Considerable empirical work has addressed each of these theories with some success. However, our understanding of the effect of compensation on behavior and of the motivations for firms in choosing certain policies has been constrained by two important problems. First, the absence of data on contracts and performance has limited the ability of researchers to ask even the most basic question, Do Incentives Matter? Second, the available theoretical work has not been sufficiently orientated towards distinguishing between plausible alternatives, so that many observed facts are consistent with any of the major theories.

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  • Canice Prendergast, 1996. "What Happens Within Firms? A Survey of Empirical Evidence on Compensation Policies," NBER Working Papers 5802, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5802
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    2. Dackehag, Margareta & Hansson, Åsa, 2015. "Taxation of Dividend Income and Economic Growth: The Case of Europe," Working Papers 2015:24, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    3. Fredrik Heyman, 2005. "Pay inequality and firm performance: evidence from matched employer-employee data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(11), pages 1313-1327.
    4. van Dijk, Frans & Sonnemans, Joep & van Winden, Frans, 2001. "Incentive systems in a real effort experiment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 187-214, February.
    5. Arjan Lejour & Gerard Verweij, 2008. "Two quantative scenarios for the future of manufacturing in Europe," CPB Document 160.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    6. Mauro Mastrogiacomo & Rob Euwals & Raun van Ooijen, 2010. "Private wealth and planned early retirement: A panel data analysis for the Netherlands 1994-2009," CPB Discussion Paper 160.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    7. Felipe Balmaceda, "undated". "Compensation Methods in Competitive Labor Markets," ILADES-UAH Working Papers inv118, Universidad Alberto Hurtado/School of Economics and Business.
    8. Michael L. Lemmon & James S. Schallheim & Jaime F. Zender, 2000. "Do Incentives Matter? Managerial Contracts for Dual-Purpose Funds," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(2), pages 273-299, April.
    9. Bernd J. Frick & Ute Goetzen & Robert Simmons, 2013. "The Hidden Costs of High-Performance Work Practices: Evidence from a Large German Steel Company," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(1), pages 198-224, January.
    10. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:12:y:2002:i:2:p:1-13 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Frijters, Paul, 2000. "The sale of relational capital through tenure profiles and tournaments," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 373-384, July.
    12. Dackehag , Margareta & Hansson, Åsa, 2012. "Taxation of Income and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis of 25 Rich OECD Countries," Working Papers 2012:6, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    13. Nico van Leeuwen & Arjan Lejour, 2006. "Bilateral Services Trade Data and the GTAP database," CPB Memorandum 160.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    14. Peter Egger & Doina Maria Radulescu, 2011. "Labor Taxation and Foreign Direct Investment," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 113(3), pages 603-636, September.
    15. Åsa Hansson & Karin Olofsdotter, 2014. "Labor Taxation and FDI Decisions in the European Union," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 263-287, April.
    16. Rajesh K. Aggarwal & Andrew A. Samwick, 2003. "Performance Incentives within Firms: The Effect of Managerial Responsibility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(4), pages 1613-1650, August.
    17. Marco Delmastro, 2002. "On the choice of incentives in firms: influence activity, monitoring technology and organizational structure," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 12(2), pages 1-13.
    18. Vera Brenčič, 2015. "Employers' Efforts to Deter Shirking in Teams: Evidence from Job Vacancies," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(1), pages 52-78, March.
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    20. Barron, John M. & Waddell, Glen R., 2008. "Work hard, not smart: Stock options in executive compensation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(3-4), pages 767-790, June.

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