Wage inequality and team production : An experimental analysis

Numerous survey studies report that human resource managers curb wage inequality with the intent to avoid detrimental effects on workers’ morale. However, there exists little controlled empirical evidence demonstrating that horizontal social comparisons and wage inequality have adverse effects on worker behavior. In this paper, we present data from a laboratory experiment that studies the impact of wage inequality on participation and effort choices in team production. Overall, we do not find evidence that wage inequality has a significant impact on either participation or effort choices. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2010.09.008 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-50654 Accepted Version Originally published at: Bartling, Björn; Von Siemens, Ferdinand A (2011). Wage inequality and team production: An experimental analysis. Journal of Economic Psychology, 32(1):1-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2010.09.008 Wage Inequality and Team Production: An Experimental Analysis∗ Björn Bartling University of Zurich† Ferdinand A. von Siemens University of Amsterdam‡ September 30, 2010 forthcoming: Journal of Economic Psychology