The authors examine the sensitivity of wage setting in two federal pay systems-the General Schedule (GS) system, covering white-collar workers, and the Federal Wage System (FWS), covering blue-collar workers-to local wages and cost-of-living. In 1978 and 1980, the years of the data, FWS wages...

The authors examine the sensitivity of wage setting in two federal pay systems—the General Schedule (GS) system, covering white-collar workers, and the Federal Wage System (FWS), covering blue-collar workers—to local wages and cost-of-living. In 1978 and 1980, the years of the...

This study uses a Monte Carlo simulation to examine how the relationship between pay and performance is affected by the pay system, measurement error in appraising performance, the consistency of true performance over time, and the rules governing promotion decisions. The authors find that...