Firms have multiple options at the time of adjusting their wage bills. However, previous literature has mainly focused on base wages. We broaden the analysis beyond downward rigidity in base wages by investigating the use of other margins of labour cost adjustment at the firm level. Using data...

In Germany, employers used to pay union members and non-members in a plant the same union wage in order to prevent workers from joining unions. Using recent administrative data, we investigate which workers in firms covered by collective bargaining agreements still individually benefit from...

In Deutschland zahlen Arbeitgeber traditionell den gleichen Tariflohn für Gewerkschaftsmitglieder und -nichtmitglieder im selben Betrieb, um letztere von einem Gewerkschaftsbeitritt abzuhalten. Mit aktuellen Daten aus der Verdienststrukturerhebung untersuchen wir, welche Arbeitnehmer in...

In Germany, employers used to pay union members and non-members in a plant the same union wage in order to prevent workers from joining unions. Using recent administrative data, we investigate which workers in firms covered by collective bargaining agreements still individually benefit from...

The rarity with which firms reduce nominal wages has been frequently observed, even in the face of considerable negative economic shocks. This paper uses a unique survey of fourteen European countries to ask firms directly about the incidence of wage cuts and to assess the relevance of a range...

This paper will explore the research question: Do shareholder Say-on-pay (SoP) impact excessive executive compensation? Consequently, the essential sub-problems will also be addressed: Do shareholder SoP votes indicate a negative correlation to extremely high compensation? Moreover, how does the...

Good relationships between middle-level managers and employees are critical to many companies because they can enhance cooperation and motivate effort from all parties. In this paper, we experimentally examine how organizational interventions from the top of company to motivate employees via...

While the literature appeals to efficiency arguments from agency theory to explain the relative rise of CEO equity compensation, prior work has given less focus to CEO pay contracts based on equity and cash incentives that directly (analytically) maximize the total return of firm owners. The...

Over the past four decades, Congress has repeatedly used tax policy to address executive-compensation practices, most notably through golden-parachute penalty taxes (enacted in 1984), a $1 million cap on compensation deductions (enacted in 1993 and expanded in 2017), and penalty taxes on...

We examine whether pay differentials between the chief executive officer (CEO) and vice presidents (VPs) can be explained by firms’ strategic priorities. We find that firms that pursue prospector-type strategies have a larger CEO−VP difference in equity compensation. We argue that such a pay...