IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp9223.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Ownership and Pay in Britain

Author

Listed:
  • Pendleton, Andrew

    (University of Durham)

  • Bryson, Alex

    (University College London)

  • Gospel, Howard

    (King's College London)

Abstract

Drawing on principal-agent perspectives on corporate governance, this paper examines whether employees' hourly pay is linked to ownership dispersion. Using linked workplace-worker data from the British Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) 2011, we find average hourly pay is higher in dispersed ownership workplaces. The raw gap of 30 log points falls to 8 log points when we control for differences in worker and workplace characteristics. The premium is constant across most of the wage distribution, but falls a little at the 90th percentile to become statistically non-significant. This contrasts with earlier papers which indicate that higher level employees are the primary beneficiaries of higher pay from dispersed ownership.

Suggested Citation

  • Pendleton, Andrew & Bryson, Alex & Gospel, Howard, 2015. "Ownership and Pay in Britain," IZA Discussion Papers 9223, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9223
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp9223.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philippe Aghion & John Van Reenen & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "Innovation and Institutional Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 277-304, February.
    2. Mark B. Stewart, 1983. "On Least Squares Estimation when the Dependent Variable is Grouped," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 50(4), pages 737-753.
    3. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 1999. "Is There a Discretion in Wage Setting? A Test Using Takeover Legislation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 30(3), pages 535-554, Autumn.
    4. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    5. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    6. Henrik Cronqvist & Fredrik Heyman & Mattias Nilsson & Helena Svaleryd & Jonas Vlachos, 2009. "Do Entrenched Managers Pay Their Workers More?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 309-339, February.
    7. John M. Abowd & Francis Kramarz & David N. Margolis, 1999. "High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 67(2), pages 251-334, March.
    8. Neil Conway & Simon Deakin & Suzanne Konzelmann & Héloïse Petit & Antoine Rebérioux & Frank Wilkinson, 2008. "The Influence of Stock Market Listing on Human Resource Management: Evidence for France and Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 631-673, December.
    9. Héloïse Petit & Antoine Rebérioux & Simon Deakin & Sue Konzelman & Frank Wilkinson & Neil Conway, 2006. "Corporate governance and employment relations in the UK and France," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00271594, HAL.
    10. George A. Akerlof, 1982. "Labor Contracts as Partial Gift Exchange," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 97(4), pages 543-569.
    11. Hicks, J. R., 1969. "A Theory of Economic History," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198811633.
    12. Brown, Charles & Medoff, James, 1989. "The Employer Size-Wage Effect," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1027-1059, October.
    13. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 1999. "Corporate Ownership Around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 471-517, April.
    14. Alex Bryson & John Forth & Lucy Stokes, 2014. "The Performance Pay Premium: How Big Is It and Does It Affect Wage Dispersion?," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 433, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    15. Edward P. Lazear, 1999. "Personnel Economics: Past Lessons and Future Directions," NBER Working Papers 6957, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Krueger, Alan B & Summers, Lawrence H, 1988. "Efficiency Wages and the Inter-industry Wage Structure," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(2), pages 259-293, March.
    17. M. Pagano & P. F. Volpin, 2005. "Managers, Workers, and Corporate Control," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 841-868, April.
    18. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    19. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald & Peter Sanfey, 1996. "Wages, Profits, and Rent-Sharing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(1), pages 227-251.
    20. Cubbin, John S & Leech, Dennis, 1983. "The Effect of Shareholding Dispersion on the Degree of Control in British Companies: Theory and Measurement," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 93(37), pages 351-369, June.
    21. Gorton, Gary & Schmid, Frank, 1999. "Corporate governance, ownership dispersion and efficiency: Empirical evidence from Austrian cooperative banking," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 119-140, June.
    22. Alan B. Krueger, 1991. "Ownership, Agency, and Wages: An Examination of Franchising in the Fast Food Industry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(1), pages 75-101.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Leone Leonida & Antonio Giangreco & Sergio Scicchitano & Marco Biagetti, 2023. "Britain and BrExit: Is the UK more attractive to supervisors? An analysis of the wage premium to supervision across the EU," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(2), pages 291-312, June.
    2. Estrin, Saul, 2021. "Introduction to symposium on the impact of employee influence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110516, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Saul Estrin, 2021. "Introduction to symposium on the impact of employee influence," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 982-987, December.
    4. David Marsden, 2021. "Patterns of organizational ownership and employee well‐being in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 988-1019, December.
    5. Thomas Amosse & Alex Bryson & John Forth & Heloise Petit, 2023. "The Micro-Foundations of Employment Systems: An Empirical Case Study of Britain and France," DoQSS Working Papers 23-04, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Henrik Cronqvist & Fredrik Heyman & Mattias Nilsson & Helena Svaleryd & Jonas Vlachos, 2009. "Do Entrenched Managers Pay Their Workers More?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 309-339, February.
    2. François Belot & Timothée Waxin, 2017. "Labor Conflicts in French Workplaces: Does (the Type of) Family Control Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 591-617, December.
    3. repec:dau:papers:123456789/5892 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Veronique Genre & Karsten Kohn & Daphne Momferatou, 2011. "Understanding inter-industry wage structures in the euro area," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(11), pages 1299-1313.
    5. Chi, Yung-Ling, 2023. "The agency costs of family ownership: Evidence from innovation performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    6. Jongmoo Jay Choi & Hoje Jo & Jimi Kim & Moo Sung Kim, 2018. "Business Groups and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 931-954, December.
    7. Fauver, Larry & McDonald, Michael B. & Taboada, Alvaro G., 2018. "Does it pay to treat employees well? International evidence on the value of employee-friendly culture," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 84-108.
    8. Muravyev, Alexander & Berezinets, Irina & Ilina, Yulia, 2012. "Корпоративные Конфликты И Политика Фирм В Области Занятости И Заработной Платы [Corporate Governance Conflicts and Employment and Wage Policies of Companies]," MPRA Paper 40215, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Marc van Essen & J. (Hans) van Oosterhout & Pursey P. M. A. R. Heugens, 2013. "Competition and Cooperation in Corporate Governance: The Effects of Labor Institutions on Blockholder Effectiveness in 23 European Countries," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 530-551, April.
    10. Teresa Chu & In-Mu Haw & Simon S. M. Ho & Xu Zhang, 2020. "Labor protection, ownership concentration, and cost of equity capital: international evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1351-1387, May.
    11. Olivier Brossard & Stéphanie Lavigne & Mustafa Erdem Sakinç, 2013. "Ownership structures and R&D in Europe: the good institutional investors, the bad and ugly impatient shareholders," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(4), pages 1031-1068, August.
    12. Choi, Paul Moon Sub & Chung, Chune Young & Vo, Xuan Vinh & Wang, Kainan, 2020. "Are better-governed firms more innovative? Evidence from Korea," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 263-279.
    13. Jun-Koo Kang & Jungmin Kim, 2020. "Do Family Firms Invest More than Nonfamily Firms in Employee-Friendly Policies?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(3), pages 1300-1324, March.
    14. Lokshin, Boris & Mohnen, Pierre, 2008. "Wage effects of R&D tax incentives:Evidence from the Netherlands," MERIT Working Papers 2008-034, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    15. Bernd Görzig & Martin Gornig & Axel Werwatz, 2004. "East Germany's Wage Gap: A Non-Parametric Decomposition Based on Establishment Characteristics," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 451, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    16. Waisman, Maya, 2013. "Product market competition and the cost of bank loans: Evidence from state antitakeover laws," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 4721-4737.
    17. Erik Berglöf & Mike Burkart, 2003. "European takeover regulation [‘Efficient and inefficient sales of corporate control’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 18(36), pages 171-213.
    18. Taylan Mavruk & Conny Overland & Stefan Sjögren, 2020. "Keeping it real or keeping it simple? Ownership concentration measures compared," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(4), pages 958-1005, September.
    19. Gur Aminadav & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Corporate Control around the World," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1191-1246, June.
    20. Belkhir, Mohamed & Boubaker, Sabri & Rouatbi, Wael, 2013. "Excess control, agency costs and the probability of going private in France," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 250-265.
    21. Chen, Shenglan & Lin, Bingxuan & Lu, Rui & Ma, Hui, 2018. "The disciplinary effects of short sales on controlling shareholders," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 56-76.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    principal agent; corporate governance; ownership structure; pay;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9223. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.