Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/17745.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does Linking Worker Pay to Firm Performance Help the Best Firms Do Even Better?

Author

Listed:
  • Douglas L. Kruse
  • Joseph R. Blasi
  • Richard B. Freeman
Abstract
This paper analyzes the linkages among group incentive methods of compensation, labor practices, worker assessments of workplace culture, turnover, and firm performance in a non-representative sample of companies: firms that applied to the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America" competition from 2005 to 2007. Although employers with good labor practices self- select into the 100 Best Companies firms sample, which should bias the analysis against finding strong associations among modes of compensation, labor policies, and outcomes, we find that in the firms that make more extensive use of group incentive pay employees participate more in decisions, have greater information sharing, trust supervisors more, and report a more positive workplace culture than in other companies. The combination of group incentive pay with policies that empower employees and create a positive workplace culture reduces voluntary turnover and increases employee intent to stay and raises return on equity. Finding these effects in the non-representative "100 Best Companies" sample strengthens the likelihood that the policies have a causal impact on employee well-being and firm performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Douglas L. Kruse & Joseph R. Blasi & Richard B. Freeman, 2012. "Does Linking Worker Pay to Firm Performance Help the Best Firms Do Even Better?," NBER Working Papers 17745, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17745
    Note: LS
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w17745.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Buchele & Douglas L. Kruse & Loren Rodgers & Adria Scharf, 2010. "Show Me the Money: Does Shared Capitalism Share the Wealth?," NBER Chapters, in: Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options, pages 351-375, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Joseph R. Blasi & Douglas L. Kruse & Harry M. Markowitz, 2010. "Risk and Lack of Diversification under Employee Ownership and Shared Capitalism," NBER Chapters, in: Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options, pages 105-136, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Michael J. Handel & Maury Gittleman, 1999. "Is There a Wage Payoff to Innovative Work Practices?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_288, Levy Economics Institute.
    4. Chris Doucouliagos, 1995. "Worker Participation and Productivity in Labor-Managed and Participatory Capitalist Firms: A Meta-Analysis," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 49(1), pages 58-77, October.
    5. Drew Fudenberg & Eric Maskin, 2008. "The Folk Theorem In Repeated Games With Discounting Or With Incomplete Information," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Drew Fudenberg & David K Levine (ed.), A Long-Run Collaboration On Long-Run Games, chapter 11, pages 209-230, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Joseph Blasi & Michael Conte & Douglas Kruse, 1996. "Employee Stock Ownership and Corporate Performance among Public Companies," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 50(1), pages 60-79, October.
    7. Roger T. Kaufman, 1998. "The Effects of Gain Sharing on the Basic Wage: The Case of IMPROSHARE," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 12(3), pages 595-600, September.
    8. Kruse, Douglas L. & Freeman, Richard B. & Blasi, Joseph R. (ed.), 2010. "Shared Capitalism at Work," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226056951, September.
    9. Robert A. Hart & Olaf Hübler, 1991. "Are Profit Shares and Wages Substitute or Complementary Forms of Compensation?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 221-231, May.
    10. Daniel Kahneman & Jack L. Knetsch & Richard H. Thaler, 1991. "Anomalies: The Endowment Effect, Loss Aversion, and Status Quo Bias," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 193-206, Winter.
    11. Hubler, Olaf, 1993. "Productivity, Earnings, and Profit Sharing--An Econometric Analysis of Alternative Models," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 357-380.
    12. Olubunmi Faleye & Emery Trahan, 2011. "Labor-Friendly Corporate Practices: Is What is Good for Employees Good for Shareholders?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 1-27, June.
    13. repec:bla:kyklos:v:44:y:1991:i:2:p:221-31 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Dawes, Robyn M & Thaler, Richard H, 1988. "Anomalies: Cooperation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 187-197, Summer.
    15. Welbourne, T. & Mejia, L.G., 1995. "Gainsharing: A Critical Review and A Future Research Agenda," Papers 95-10, Cornell - Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies.
    16. 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.
    17. Edmans, Alex, 2011. "Does the stock market fully value intangibles? Employee satisfaction and equity prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 621-640, September.
    18. Berger, Johannes & Herbertz, Claus & Sliwka, Dirk, 2011. "Incentives and Cooperation in Firms: Field Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 5618, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Derek C. Jones & Takao Kato & Jeffrey Pliskin, 1994. "Profit Sharing and Gainsharing: A Review of Theory, Incidence, and Effects," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_125, Levy Economics Institute.
    20. Ichniowski, Casey & Shaw, Kathryn & Prennushi, Giovanna, 1997. "The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: A Study of Steel Finishing Lines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 291-313, June.
    21. Harry Markowitz & Joseph Blasi & Douglas Kruse, 2010. "Employee stock ownership and diversification," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 95-107, April.
    22. Douglas L. Kruse, 1993. "Profit Sharing: Does It Make a Difference?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number ps, December.
    23. Norman Frohlich & John Godard & Joe A. Oppenheimer & Frederick A. Starke, 1998. "Employee versus conventionally-owned and controlled firms: an experimental analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4-5), pages 311-326.
    24. Derek C. Jones & Panu Kalmi & Antti Kauhanen, 2010. "Teams, Incentive Pay, and Productive Efficiency: Evidence from a Food-Processing Plant," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(4), pages 606-626, July.
    25. Douglas L. Kruse & Richard B. Freeman & Joseph R. Blasi, 2010. "Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number krus08-1.
    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. Aubert, Nicolas & Garnotel, Guillaume & Lapied, André & Rousseau, Patrick, 2014. "Employee ownership: A theoretical and empirical investigation of management entrenchment vs. reward management," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 423-434.
    2. Bryson, Alex & Clark, Andrew E. & Freeman, Richard B. & Green, Colin P., 2016. "Share capitalism and worker wellbeing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 151-158.
    3. Nicolas Aubert & Alexander Kern & Xavier Hollandts, 2017. "Employee stock ownership and the cost of capital," Post-Print halshs-01502001, HAL.
    4. Nicolas Aubert & Xavier Hollandts, 2015. "How Shared Capitalism Affects Employee Withdrawal: An Econometric Case Study Of A French-Listed Company," Post-Print halshs-01256759, HAL.
    5. David P. Ellerman & Tej Gonza, 2020. "Coronavirus Crisis: Government Aid That Also Promotes Employee Ownership," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(3), pages 175-180, May.
    6. Anne-Laure P. Winkler & Jill A. Brown & David L. Finegold, 2019. "Employees as Conduits for Effective Stakeholder Engagement: An Example from B Corporations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 913-936, December.
    7. Cristina Di Stefano, 2018. "The Business Transfer through the Cooperative Model. A Comparative Analysis Italy-France," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 7(2), pages 62-86.
    8. Fareeha Waseem & Syeda Fizza Abbas & Anum Farooq, 2022. "Nexus of Employee Stock Ownership with Cost of Capital: Evidence from KSE 100," iRASD Journal of Management, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 4(1), pages 38-50, March.
    9. Aubert, Nicolas & Kern, Alexander & Hollandts, Xavier, 2017. "Employee stock ownership and the cost of capital11We are grateful to the Editor in Chief, Thomas Lagoarde-Segot and to participants at 2016 French accounting association conference, 2015 French financ," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 67-78.
    10. Abdelnour Joseph & Aubert Nicolas & Campa Domenico, 2022. "Does employee ownership decrease agency costs? Evidence from French listed companies [L'actionnariat salarié réduit-il les coûts d'agence? Le cas des entreprises françaises cotées]," Post-Print hal-03723164, HAL.

    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. Joseph Blasi & Richard Freeman & Douglas Kruse, 2016. "Do Broad-based Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing and Stock Options Help the Best Firms Do Even Better?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 54(1), pages 55-82, March.
    2. Joseph R. Blasi & Richard B. Freeman & Christopher Mackin & Douglas L. Kruse, 2010. "Creating a Bigger Pie? The Effects of Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Stock Options on Workplace Performance," NBER Chapters, in: Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options, pages 139-165, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Kato, Takao & Kauhanen, Antti, 2013. "Performance Pay and Enterprise Productivity: The Details Matter," ETLA Working Papers 21, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    4. Douglas Kruse & Joseph Blasi & Dan Weltmann & Saehee Kang & Jung Ook Kim & William Castellano, 2022. "Do Employee Share Owners Face Too Much Financial Risk?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(3), pages 716-740, May.
    5. Kruse, Douglas L. & Blasi, Joseph & Weltmann, Dan & Kang, Saehee & Kim, Jung Ook & Castellano, William, 2019. "Do Employee Share Owners Face Too Much Financial Risk?," IZA Discussion Papers 12303, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. KATO Takao & MIYAJIMA Hideaki & OWAN Hideo, 2016. "Does Employee Stock Ownership Work? Evidence from publicly-traded firms in Japan," Discussion papers 16073, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Richard J. Long & Tony Fang, 2012. "Do Employees Profit from Profit Sharing? Evidence from Canadian Panel Data," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(4), pages 899-927, October.
    8. Geert Braam & Erik Poutsma, 2015. "Broad-Based Financial Participation Plans and Their Impact on Financial Performance: Evidence from a Dutch Longitudinal Panel," De Economist, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 177-202, June.
    9. Hristos Doucouliagos & Patrice Laroche & Douglas L. Kruse & T. D. Stanley, 2020. "Is Profit Sharing Productive? A Meta‐Regression Analysis," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 364-395, June.
    10. Long, Richard J. & Fang, Tony, 2013. "Profit Sharing and Workplace Productivity: Does Teamwork Play a Role?," IZA Discussion Papers 7869, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Artz, Georgeanne M. & Kim, Younjun, 2011. "Business ownership by workers: are worker cooperatives a viable option?," ISU General Staff Papers 201111090800001098, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    12. Douglas L. Kruse & Richard B. Freeman & Joseph R. Blasi, 2010. "Do Workers Gain by Sharing? Employee Outcomes under Employee Ownership, Profit Sharing, and Broad-Based Stock Options," NBER Chapters, in: Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options, pages 257-289, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Takao Kato & Ju Ho Lee & Jang-Soo Ryu, 2010. "The productivity effects of profit sharing, employee ownership, stock option and team incentive plans: evidence from Korean panel data," Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory & Labor-Managed Firms, in: Advances in the Economic Analysis of Participatory & Labor-Managed Firms, pages 111-135, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    14. Nico van Leeuwen & Arjan Lejour, 2006. "Bilateral Services Trade Data and the GTAP database," CPB Memorandum 160.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    15. Noélie Delahaie & Richard Duhautois, 2019. "Profit‐Sharing and Wages: An Empirical Analysis Using French Data between 2000 and 2007," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 57(1), pages 107-142, March.
    16. Tariq Javed* & Mohd Faizal Basri, 2019. "Employee Ownership and Financial Performance of State-Owned Entities: A Mediating Role of Employee Loyalty," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 5(3), pages 640-645, 03-2019.
    17. Mauro Mastrogiacomo & Rob Euwals & Raun van Ooijen, 2010. "Private wealth and planned early retirement: A panel data analysis for the Netherlands 1994-2009," CPB Discussion Paper 160.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    18. Gilberto Tadeu Lima & Jaylson Jair Silveira, 2014. "Macroeconomic Performance under an Evolutionary Dynamics of Profit Sharing," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2014_27, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    19. Arjan Lejour & Gerard Verweij, 2008. "Two quantative scenarios for the future of manufacturing in Europe," CPB Document 160.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    20. Joseph R. Blasi & Douglas L. Kruse & Richard B. Freeman, 2010. "Epilogue (and Prologue)," NBER Chapters, in: Shared Capitalism at Work: Employee Ownership, Profit and Gain Sharing, and Broad-based Stock Options, pages 377-386, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management
    • P12 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Enterprises
    • P13 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Cooperative Enterprises
    • P17 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Performance and Prospects

    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:nbr:nberwo:17745. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.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.