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Has performance pay increased wage inequality in Britain?

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  • Bryan, Mark
  • Bryson, Alex

Abstract

Using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) we show performance pay (PP) increased earnings dispersion among men and women, and to a lesser extent among full-time working women, in the decade of economic growth which ended with the recession of 2008. PP was also associated with some compression in the lower half of the wage distribution for women. The effects were predominantly associated with a broad measure of PP that included bonuses. However, these effects were modest, typically not exceeding a 0.05 log points change in log wage differentials over the decade. Moreover there is no indication that PP became increasingly prevalent, as some had predicted, over the decade prior to recession.

Suggested Citation

  • Bryan, Mark & Bryson, Alex, 2016. "Has performance pay increased wage inequality in Britain?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 149-161.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:41:y:2016:i:c:p:149-161
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2016.05.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Sang-yoon Song, 2020. "Employer Size and Wage Inequality: Rent-Sharing Role of Performance Pay," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 36, pages 415-444.
    2. Davud Rostam‐Afschar & Kristina Strohmaier, 2019. "Does Regulation Trade Off Quality against Inequality? The Case of German Architects and Construction Engineers," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(4), pages 870-893, December.
    3. Green, Colin P. & Heywood, John S., 2022. "Does Performance Pay Influence Hours of Work?," IZA Discussion Papers 15474, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Keith A. Bender & Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood, 2021. "Performance pay and assortative matching," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 68(4), pages 485-493, September.
    5. Mark Williams & Ying Zhou & Min Zou, 2020. "The Rise in Pay for Performance Among Higher Managerial and Professional Occupations in Britain: Eroding or Enhancing the Service Relationship?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(4), pages 605-625, August.
    6. Green, Colin P. & Heywood, John S., 2023. "Performance pay, work hours and employee health in the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wages; Wage inequality; Performance pay; Bonuses;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods

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