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How Prevalent is Performance-Related Pay in the United States? Current Incidence and Recent Trends

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  • Gittleman, Maury
  • Pierce, Brooks

Abstract

We address basic questions about performance-related pay in the US. How widespread is it? What characteristics of employers and jobs are associated with it? What are recent trends in its incidence? What factors are responsible for these trends? Nearly two-fifths of hours worked in the US economy in 2013 were in jobs with performance-related pay, but this share has been declining. We consider several possible causes for this trend and find that they do not have much explanatory power. We do establish, however, that any potential explanation must also account for a long-term shift in the relative incidence of performance-related pay away from low-wage and toward high-wage jobs.

Suggested Citation

  • Gittleman, Maury & Pierce, Brooks, 2013. "How Prevalent is Performance-Related Pay in the United States? Current Incidence and Recent Trends," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 226, pages 4-16, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:nierev:v:226:y:2013:i::p:r4-r16_11
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Bryan, Mark & Bryson, Alex, 2016. "Has performance pay increased wage inequality in Britain?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 149-161.
    2. Weinschenk, Philipp, 2019. "Contract Design with Socially-Attentive Preferences," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203546, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Paweł Doligalski & Abdoulaye Ndiaye & Nicolas Werquin, 2023. "Redistribution with Performance Pay," Journal of Political Economy Macroeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(2), pages 371-402.
    4. Janice Fanning Madden & Alexander Vekker, 2017. "Output-Based Performance Pay, Performance-Support Bias, and the Racial Pay Gap within a Large Retail Stock Brokerage," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 662-687, October.
    5. Cadena, Brian C. & Smith, Austin C., 2022. "Performance pay, productivity, and strategic opt-out: Evidence from a community health center," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    6. Madonia, Greg & Smith, Austin C., 2019. "All-In or checked-out? Disincentives and selection in income share agreements," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 52-67.
    7. Maurice J. G. Bun & Leo C. E. Huberts, 2018. "The Impact of Higher Fixed Pay and Lower Bonuses on Productivity," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 1-21, March.
    8. Koch, Simon & Weinschenk, Philipp, 2021. "Contract design with socially attentive preferences," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 591-601.
    9. Cardella, Eric & Roomets, Alex, 2022. "Pay distribution preferences and productivity effects: An experiment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    10. John G. Sessions & John D. Skåtun, 2022. "Luck in a Flat Hierarchy: Wages, Bonuses and Noise," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 98(323), pages 373-391, December.
    11. Cadena, Brian C. & Smith, Austin C., 2019. "Performance Pay and Productivity in Health Care: Evidence from Community Health Centers," IZA Discussion Papers 12586, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects

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