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Abstract: Whereas the motivational aspects of pay are well-documented, the notion that high pay leads to high levels of satisfaction is not without debate. The current study used meta-analysis to estimate the population correlation between pay level and measures of pay and job satisfaction. Cumulating across 115 correlations from 92 independent samples, results suggested that pay level was correlated .15 with job satisfaction and .23 with pay satisfaction. Various moderators of the relationship were investigated. Despite the popular theorizing, results suggest that pay level is only marginally related to satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to isolate the effects of personal fairness (the consumer's evauation of the magnitude of the price) and the social fairness (the acceptability of the price given the social norms of the society). Design/methodology/approach - This research adapted the scenarios used in the pivotal fair pricing study conducted by Kahneman, Knetsch and Thaler. To demonstrate the difference between their results and the results when personal and social fairness were separated, the analysis replicated that of Kahneman, Knetsch and Thaler. Findings - The paper finds that an individual's self-serving concern for a personally fair price is moderated by their other-serving concern for a socially fair price. Research limitations/implications - This research demonstrates that there is a significant difference in the personal and social fairness of price, whether it is a price for goods, wages or rents. Practical implications - Sellers, employers and realtors can benefit from the knowledge that providing a socially acceptable reason for the increase of a product or rental price or the decrease of a wage can increase the likelihood that the recipients will judge the price increase as being fair. Originality/value - Prior research into price fairness has confused the two aspects of a fair price. By isolating the two separate components, we clarify how individuals perceive price fairness in the personal sense and how that perception is altered by a concern for fairness in the social sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to analyse immigrant-native wage differentials in Spain. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper exploits the Earnings Structure Survey 2006, which is the first nationally representative sample of both foreign and Spanish employees. Using the Machado-Mata econometric procedure, wage differentials between locals and foreigners are decomposed into the gap related to characteristics and the one due to different returns on endowments (i.e. discrimination). Findings -- The paper finds that, in absolute terms, the latter component grows across the wage distribution, reflecting the existence of a kind of glass ceiling, consistent with the evidence of over-education found in previous research. Originality/value -- The paper for the first time explores earnings differentials between immigrant and Spanish workers using a nationally representative database. In addition, standard errors are computed in order to determine if the gaps are statistically significant, a task not addressed by previous works. Finally, the work is relevant as Spain has become a host country only a few years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the salary and promotion negotiation practices of female and male school psychology practitioners and university instructors of school psychology practitioners in order to determine whether salary differences exist between male and female employees in the field of school psychology, which has become a female-dominated profession. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 191 female and 115 male faculty members and 148 female and 56 male school psychologists completed a survey regarding salary, negotiation practices, and job satisfaction. Findings – Results suggest that females earn less than male colleagues, controlling for years of experience and degree attainment. No gender differences were found regarding faculty participants' willingness to negotiate for increased salary; however, males were more likely to negotiate for promotion. Likewise, no gender differences were evident in practitioners' salary and promotion negotiation attempts, although none were expected, given the salary schedule constraints unique to occupations in the field of education. Research limitations/implications – The paper is limited to one profession, albeit both university faculty and school psychology practitioners, and was conducted in the USA, so the findings may have limited generalizability to other professions and/or in other countries. Practical implications – The paper demonstrates that gender pay differences exist despite no differences in males' and females' willingness to negotiate for salary. Consequently, it is likely that pay differences between men and women are due to reasons other than individuals' education levels, years in position, and negotiation practices. Originality/value – This is the first paper that tracks salaries and the negotiating practices of school psychologist trainers and practitioners. It also finds that male/female salary differences carry over into a female-dominated profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons women living in dual-earner households give for not outsourcing domestic chores so as to understand better the barriers to the outsourcing of domestic labour. Design/methodology/approach - The analysis is based on a web questionnaire survey amongst 550 staff of a large service-sector employer in the UK. Using the Likert scale, reasons why households did or did not outsource domestic chores were investigated. Findings - The two main reasons for not outsourcing which emerged from the research were first, not being able to afford it and second, the satisfaction individuals derived from looking after their own homes. Research limitations/implications - The first finding concerning affordability reinforces previous research that emphasises income as a determining factor in domestic outsourcing. The second finding that some women do not outsource because they put a positive value on looking after their own homes raises the question of whether the under-development of domestic outsourcing reflects a culture of resistance to the commodification of private life or evidence of the persistence of traditional ideas concerning domesticity and gender identity. Originality/value - Many studies of domestic outsourcing have focused on the provider/supplier. Fewer concentrate on the consumer and where this has been done, it has been those who outsource that have been the focus of research. This article contributes to the debate by concentrating on those who do not outsource regular domestic tasks as a way of understanding the barriers to domestic outsourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - One of the major contributions of the literature on human capital has been to demonstrate the role of schooling as a determinant of wages. However, the exact size of the effect on wages and how it should be estimated remain a source of both theoretical and empirical debate. This paper seeks to provide empirical evidence on the returns to education for the Spanish labor market. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses the instrumental variable approach proposed by Hausman and Taylor to assess the direction and size of the bias that affects standard OLS estimation, when some of the wage determinants are endogenous. Findings - The results suggest that the returns to schooling are substantially higher once endogeneity is taken into account, rising from around 6 percent for each additional year of schooling to about 12 percent when the effect is estimated via instrumental variables. This is in line with research for other countries. Evidence is also found of endogeneity in the effect of job seniority, although in the opposite direction. That is, the Hausman and Taylor model finds little effect of seniority on wages, whereas OLS estimates suggest a larger effect. Research limitations/implications - Further research is needed to reconcile these results (downwards bias in the OLS estimate of the returns to schooling) with the theoretical notion of an upwards bias caused by the correlation between unobservable ability, wages and schooling. Originality/value - The paper adds new evidence on wage determinants for the Spanish labor market and does so for men and women using alternative estimation procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to explore an extensive set of determinants of earnings and to offer recent empirical evidence of their effects on gender and racial earnings gaps. Design/methodology/approach - Most previous studies looked at gender and racial comparisons independently of each other. This study extends previous studies by considering the interaction between gender and race. Using administrative data from a large Canadian firm, this paper explores the determinants of earnings based on a standard human capital model, comparing the earnings of white females, minority males and minority females with their white male counterparts. Both the dummy variable approach and a decomposition analysis are employed. Findings - The results show that ranking in the organizational hierarchy accounts for most of the differences in gender and racial earnings, and ranking, together with human capital and job characteristics variables, explains over 90 percent of the earnings gap. Research limitations/implications - The analyses in the paper are based on data from a Canadian organization with nation-wide operations. The findings may not apply to small or medium sized enterprises in Canada and in other non-Western economies. Practical implications - To eliminate the earnings gap, equal pay programs need to be supplemented by effective employers' programs and policies targeted at equal advancement opportunity. Originality/value - The paper uses firm-level data, which provides natural controls for variations across firms and allows for more in-depth analysis of the impact of various factors on earnings differentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the nature of undeclared work in South East Europe and the rest of the European Union and in doing so, to evaluate critically the validity of depicting the character of undeclared work as being the same everywhere. Design/methodology/approach -- A 2007 survey of undeclared work is reported, conducted in 27 European Union (EU) member states involving 26,659 face-to-face interviews. This paper focuses on the results of the 2,432 interviews conducted in five South East European countries, namely Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Slovenia. Findings -- In South Eastern Europe, more undeclared work is found to be waged employment and conducted by marginalised population groups out of necessity compared with other EU regions. Nevertheless, and similar to other EU regions, most undeclared work is conducted on an own-account basis, rather than as waged employment, for close social relations, rather than anonymous employers, and out of choice rather than necessity, although different mixtures prevail in different places and populations both within South Eastern Europe and across the EU as a whole. Research limitations/implications - This recognition of the multifarious work relations and motives involved in undeclared work, and different mixtures in varying populations, displays the need to move beyond treating undeclared work as everywhere the same and towards nuanced spatially sensitive representations. Practical implications -- Given the proportion of undeclared work conducted on an own-account basis and for closer social relations, this paper reveals that if South East European governments continue to seek its eradication, they will deter with one hand precisely the entrepreneurship and mutual aid that with another they are seeking to nurture. Originality/value -- This is the first evaluation of undeclared work in South East Europe and the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of low quality performance appraisals (PA) on three human resource management outcomes (job satisfaction, organisational commitment and intention to quit). Design/methodology/approach -- Using data from 2,336 public sector employees clusters of PA experiences (low, mixed and high) were identified. Regression analysis was then employed to examine the relationship between low quality PA experiences and job satisfaction, organisational commitment and intention to quit. Findings -- Employees with low quality PA experiences (relative to those with mixed and high quality PA experiences) were more likely to be dissatisfied with their job, be less committed to the organisation and more likely to be contemplating leaving the organisation. Research limitations/implications -- The data were collected in a large public sector research organisation where the results of the appraisal were linked to pay increments. Further research is needed to determine the applicability of the results to private sector employees. Practical implications -- The quality of the PA experience varies and a low quality experience results in lower job satisfaction and organisational commitment and higher quit intentions. The challenge for human resource (HR) practitioners is to decide whether the allocation of additional resources to ensure that all employees have a uniformly high quality PA experience is a worthwhile investment. Originality/value -- Research has tended to focus on the relationship between a single feature of a PA process and HR outcomes. Organisations need to acknowledge the importance of the overall PA experience when evaluating its consequences for HRM outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The paper's aim is to study the determinants of gender differences in early career in Mongolia, one of the 50 poorest countries of the world. Design/methodology/approach -- The analysis takes advantage of an ad hoc school to work survey (SWTS) on young people aged 15-29 years carried out in 2006. Extended and augmented Mincerian earning equations are run and then the Juhn-Murphy-Pierce (JMP) decomposition method is applied to them to disentangle the quantity effect, the price effect and the residual wage distribution. Findings -- On average, female wages are not lower than those of males. However, although not statistically significant among teenagers (15-19), the conditional gender gap becomes significant and sizeable for the over-20s. The JMP decomposition shows that most of the gap is due to differences in the way the market values the same characteristics of men and women: in fact, quantity effects tend to reduce, whereas price effects tend to increase the gap. If wages were paid equally, women should have 11.7 per cent more for their higher education attainment and overall 22 per cent more, a substantial gap for the low earnings of Mongolians. Research limitations/implications -- Future research should assess the impact of aspirations of young people on their labour market choices. Practical implications -- The analysis shows that gender differences emerge in concomitance with women establishing a household and giving birth, suggesting that the current interventions to help mothers cope with maternity are insufficient. Changing this outcome is important to reach the Millennium Development Goals. Originality/value -- Labour market issues in Mongolia are under-studied, not to mention gender differences in early career. This paper fills some of the gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- In this paper the aim is to focus on the individual distribution of gender wage discrimination in Spain and Italy, relying upon the development of Jenkins' distributional approach proposed in Del Rio et al. Design/methodology/approach -- The authors estimate the degree of individual discrimination for each employed woman and, relying on the decomposability properties of these estimates, assess the nature and extent of discrimination across various socio-economic groupings. Findings -- Some mechanisms inhibit the access of highly educated women to highly rewarding occupations in Italy, especially in the public sector, but not in Spain. Research limitations/implications -- The treatment of occupation and sector of activity has some impact on the results, shedding doubt on the robustness of some previous analyses of discrimination in these countries. Practical implications -- While no doubt the appraisal of the glass ceiling in the Italian labour market will gain extensively from further research, some prima facie evidence is found highlighting the role of appointment and promotion procedures. Originality/value -- A remarkable institutional divide characterises Spain and Italy in the domain of gender wage discrimination. Powerful political pressure along the lines of gender quotas for public employment has long been in place in Spain, while nothing of the kind has existed in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of cyclical and structural factors on the decline of maquiladora employment. In addition to the US industrial production, the cyclical factors examined are relative Mexican US wages, the Mexican exchange rate relative to the US, and US foreign direct investment (FDI). The paper also explores the effect of competition from China, a structural effect, on the decline of maquiladora employment. Design/methodology/approach – A vector error correction (VEC) model of maquila employment for the period 1980-2002 is estimated and controlled for US industrial production, FDI flows, relative wage rates of Mexico and USA. To empirically investigate the structural differences of lower costs in Mexico vs China a seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) is estimated across three sectors: apparel and textile, electronic, and transportation. Findings – From the VEC maquila employment model it is found that, in addition to the strong effect of US industrial production on the maquila employment, there exist significant short- and long-run effects of Mexico US exchange rate and Mexican wages relative to USA on maquila employment. The sectoral (SUR) model shows that competition from China has a bigger adverse effect on relatively labor-intensive good and commodities which are cheaper to transport (such as textiles) over more bulky transportation goods. The transportation sector has a location advantage, though is more sensitive to the cyclical fluctuations in the US industrial production. Research limitations/implications – Future research should investigate the role of USA and world FDI exclusively into Mexico and maquiladora sector. Practical implications – Well designed controls, output choice, and location advantage are important for the growth and viability of small scale manufacturing industries. Originality/value – The VEC model for maquila employment and the SUR framework across main maquila sectors is the first to account for wages, exchange rate, and FDI in addition to the US industrial production in understanding the decline in maquiladora employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The purpose was to explore the relationship between psychosocial risk exposures and labour management practices (LMP), as indicators of work organization and pertinent features for primary preventive intervention. Methods: Cross-sectional study of a representative sample of salaried working population in Spain (n=7,612). Information was obtained in 2004-2005 using a standardized questionnaire administered through personal interviews at the household. Questions on working conditions were used to establish LMP indicators and the psychosocial exposures data were obtained on the basis of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ) I (ISTAS21). A multivariate description was performed through multiple correspondence analysis, and associations between LMPs and psychosocial exposures were assessed by ordinal logistic analysis adjusting for age and sex. Results: Correspondence analysis showed a good-bad coherent pattern regarding both psychosocial dimension and LMPs, though several LMPs categories were placed in the centre. Among the 14 possible associations of each psychosocial scale with LMP variables, several scales showed significant associations with more than eight LMP variables. Most relevant results referred to the LMP variable "Consultative and delegative participation in methods". Conclusions: In line with previous research, psychosocial exposures were associated with LMP. LMP may constitute a step on a pathway from work organization to health. Our exploratory work suggested that good psychosocial exposures were related to participatory working methods, being hired with a permanent labour contract, not being made to feel easily replaceable, having superiors with non-authoritarian and non-aggressive manners, not being threatened with dismissal, upward functional mobility, being paid according to the number of working hours and occupation, working between 31 and 40 hours per week and in regular morning shifts. Hence, the more these features became part of LMP in the workplace, the better the psychosocial work environment would be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper seeks to analyse to what extent absolute wage levels, relative wages compared with colleagues, and the position in a firm's hierarchy affect workers' absenteeism behaviour. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper uses personnel data of a large German company from January 1999 to December 2005. The data set contains 62,774 monthly observations of 1,187 full-time white-collar workers. Probit and Tobit models for individual monthly absenteeism are estimated. Findings -- Absenteeism is negatively correlated with absolute wages, relative wages, and hierarchical levels, which is in line with the paper's hypotheses. Moreover, the results indicate that a positive relative wage has a stronger impact than a negative relative wage, which gives rise to the issue of unequal wage structures. Research limitations/implications -- The findings point to the relevance of interdependent preferences and status in utility functions. From the non-linear relationship between relative wages and absenteeism it follows that an unequal wage structure has the benefit that relatively better paid workers are absent less frequenty, while the costs of higher absenteeism of workers at the lower tail of the wage distribution are rather low. Practical implications -- The results show that not only the absolute wage level but also status-related factors (e.g. relative wage, hierarchical level) affect employees' work effort and that unequal wage structures can be efficient to some degree. Originality/value -- The paper provides "real world" evidence from scarce personnel data for the importance of interdependent preferences and status. Furthermore, the non-linear relationship between relative wages and absenteeism is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeology in 2009 is being adversely affected by a global economic crisis. This has followed a period of successful expansion of practice in many countries, and is now leading to reductions in budgets and job losses. Countries that have adopted a market-facing, commercial system to deliver archaeological management have been more seriously affected than those where the state has retained control over this process. In many states, capital expenditure by governments on infrastructure projects is supporting some archaeological practice. Government commitment to funding archaeological practice is likely to be unsustainable in the long-term, and post-crisis a return to private-sector funding of flexible commercial archaeological practice can be expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Empirical research has unambiguously shown that married men receive higher wages than unmarried, whereas a wage premium for cohabiters is not as evident yet. This paper aims to exploit the observed difference between the marital and the cohabiting wage premium in Germany to draw conclusions about the sources, typically explained by specialisation (e.g. husbands being more productive because their wives take over household chores) or selection (high earnings potentials being more attractive on the marriage market). Design/methodology/approach - The paper analyzes the cohabiting and the marital wage premium in Germany using a shifting panel design for marriages and move-ins from 1993 to 2004 in the German Socio-Economic PaneL With non-parametric matching models men who get married (treatment group I) are matched with cohabiting respectively single men (control groups) and men who move in with a partner (treatment group II) with singles. Findings - Matching reveals that higher wages are mostly due to positive selection - into marriage as well as into cohabitation. Supplementary analysis of intra-household time use suggests that specialization, if any, is part of the selection process from single to cohabitation to marriage. Originality/value - This is the first application of non-parametric matching in a comparative study of the marital and the cohabiting wage premium and thus provides new insights into their respective sources. It is also the first investigation of family-status-related wage premiums in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate the net relationship between internal wage dispersion and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach - An empirical investigation of the relationship between internal wage dispersion and firm performance is performed using linked employer-employee data for Norwegian firms from 1986 to 1997. Findings- Contrary to findings in previous empirical work of a positive relationship between internal wage dispersion and firm performance, the analysis finds no such evidence in Norwegian firms, even though internal wage dispersion has increased. Originality/value - The paper contributes to the relatively sparse empirical literature on internal wage dispersion and firm performance. Further, the analysis provides a new econometric specification for estimating internal wage dispersion that explicitly takes into account the hierarchical organization of firms. In contrast with previous work, the analysis also distinguishes between dispersion in both the fixed and variable portions of wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate in the Baltic Sea region the prevalence of an illegitimate wage arrangement whereby formal employers pay their formal employees both an official declared wage as well as a supplementary undeclared (envelope) wage. Design/methodology/approach – A 2007 Eurobarometer survey is reported that evaluates envelope wage practices in 27 European Union (EU) member states. This paper focuses upon the 4,031 face-to-face interviews conducted in four countries from the Baltic Sea region that are now member states of the EU, namely Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Findings – Some one in eight formal employees in these four countries from the Baltic Sea region received an undeclared "envelope" wage from their formal employer during the past 12 months which on average amounted to 45 per cent of their gross wage packet. Although this practice is concentrated in smaller businesses, the construction industry, and amongst younger people, manual workers and lower income groups in these four countries, it is by no means confined to specific pockets of the economic landscape. Rather, it exists throughout these countries in all business types and employee groups. Research limitations/implications – The existence and commonality of envelope wages reveals the need to transcend the dichotomous depiction of formal and informal jobs as always separate and discrete and to recognise how they can be inextricably interwoven. Practical implications – This paper outlines a range of potential policy measures for tackling envelope wages and calls for their piloting and evaluation. Originality/value – The first cross-national evaluation of the incidence and nature of envelope wages in the Baltic Sea region and what needs to be done to tackle this practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- In 1997 minimum wages were introduced in the West and East German construction sector. The purpose of this paper is to analyze their impact on wage growth and employment retention probability of affected workers. Design/methodology/approach -- Following a difference-in-differences approach the paper proposes a method to identify the effects of this quasi-experiment despite the lack of information on working hours in the large panel microdata. The method determines the size of the treatment and control group by the maximum likelihood criterion. Findings -- All results show positive wage growth effects of the minimum wage regulation in both parts of the country. When it comes to employment effects, the results clearly differ between the two parts of the country. The employment effects are negative for East Germany and positive for West Germany, although the latter are not always statistically significant. Research limitations/implications -- Although there is a limit to the simple transferability of the results for the construction sector to other industries, the study provides some useful insights for this country concerning reactions to the minimum wage. This is the first paper analyzing the effect of minimum wages in Germany using microeconometric methods. Practical implications -- As the minimum wage in the East German construction sector was much higher in relation to the median wage than in West Germany, a tentative conclusion of the different employment results might be that the trade-off between increasing wages for low-paid workers and the danger of job losses does not exist in this case if minimum wages are moderate. Originality/value -- This paper provides valuable information on the impact of wage growth and employment retention probability in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Over time, management theory has shaped the structure of libraries. No matter the current view of management by matrix, when it comes to library organizations, there is always going to be a hierarchical structure. The object then is for transparency to be in place, and a recognized sense of fairness and equality. This study aims to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reviews the concepts of the literature on management and organization theory, and details the literature on valuing human capital and its recent application to knowledge management work. It then discusses how the literature and its deployment over the years have resulted in the formation of pay policies, and shows the application of Fay Hensen's predictive validity testing to the pay policy line in the field of libraries through the study of the New Jersey Library Association's Guidelines for Minimum Recommended Starting Salaries for Library Staff from the years 2007 and 2008. Findings - By measuring for internal job values at libraries through one or more of the measures discussed here, one can arrive at an analysis of the pay policy of the institution. Using trendline analysis, the paper was able to calculate just what the value, worth or salary of the positions should be in order to have a predictive, orderly, hierarchical representation of salaries within the library organization structure. Originality/value - By measuring for internal consistency in job values at libraries, one can be assured that there are fair demarcations among Positions, and yield consistent expectations which are transparent to employees, who will then know what must be done to advance within the organization. A consistent organizational structure, with clearly delineated jobs and equal compensation lets a library know where it stands and where it needs to go from there. By periodically creating a pay policy line study for the organization, human resources personnel can make executives aware of how they may or may not have strayed from balance in fairness and transparent compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to test whether the use of numerical and functional flexibility practices in firms affect their performance. Design/methodology/approach -- A combined employer/employee Norwegian data set is used to estimate production function like equations. The data stem from a questionnaire among Norwegian work organizations conducted in 2003 and are supplemented by register data from Statistics Norway about the organizations and their employees. Findings -- Numerical flexibility measures are negatively associated with wages and productivity per employee, although the association is stronger with wages than with productivity. This supports the idea that numerical flexibility fits with a low-cost strategy. It is also found that a negative association between functional flexibility and wages and productivity per employee, with the association once again stronger with wages than with productivity, contrary to the hypothesis. The idea that high-commitment human resource (HR) management has positive effects on wages and productivity was confirmed by other indicators of HR management. Research limitations/implications -- The paper is limited by a cross-sectional design and its relatively simple indicators of numerical and functional flexibility, which only show whether certain practices are used, rather than the intensity of their use. Originality/value -- This is one of the first studies that tests the effects of both numerical and functional flexible work practices on wages and productivity in a regulated labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much existing western-based literature on gender argues that deregulated institutional mechanisms have a detrimental impact on gender segregation and pay differentials. However, there is little empirical evidence to confirm the opposite in highly regulated systems such as those in Greece, even though there are strong reasons to suggest that it may be quite different here because of the unusual gender division of labour and endemic patriarchal norms. An apt example of this is national state employment in which centrally determined work processes reflect societal discriminatory structures. This article examines the impact of institutions on career development and its potential effects on gender pay disparities in state employment in Greece. It attempts to achieve this by exploring the extent to which rule-based systems may overturn gender bias in one public organization in Greece. The study suggests that exogenous parameters may shape centrally imposed institutional frameworks both in terms of facilitating and hindering career progression and thus pay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the incidence of child labour in developing countries, focusing on the role of parental attitude towards education combined with the returns to education in deciding between child labour and child education. Design/methodology/approach – Using an inter-temporal decision making framework, it is assumed that parents decide on the extent of schooling for their children. Findings – Though education enhances the productivity of a worker and thereby increases the wage of an educated worker, it was found that a portion of children drop out of school before completion and join the workforce as the returns from full schooling are not high enough. This happens even when parents intrinsically value education and also because of the wage premium, which is a strictly positive function of the time spent in school. The paper examines the effectiveness of standard policies like compulsory schooling or financial incentives in reducing the incidence of child labour and finds that the effects of some of the policies are ambiguous. Originality/value – The existing literature mainly focuses on poverty as the main reason for the incidence of child labour and usually views child labour through the lens of credit market imperfections. Unlike the existing literature, this paper emphasises the role of parental attitude towards education and the wage premium associated with schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to evaluate the prevalence in Europe of a so far little discussed wage practice in which employers pay their declared employees two wages, one declared and the other an undeclared ("envelope") wage. Design/methodology/approach - To evaluate the pervasiveness of envelope wages in Europe, a 2007 Eurobarometer survey on undeclared work is reported involving 26,659 face-to-face interviews which included a section on whether employees are paid an additional envelope wage by their declared employer. Findings - The finding is that one in 20 employees receive some of their wage from their employer as an undeclared "envelope wage" and on average this amounts to two-fifths of their wage packet. This payment arrangement, however, is more prevalent in some businesses, places and populations than others. Smaller businesses and construction firms are more likely to pay envelope wages. Men, younger persons and the lower paid are more likely to receive such wages. And geographically, envelope wages are more common in East-Central Europe, where such payments are more likely to be for regular employment hours, whilst in Continental Europe and Nordic countries envelope wages are less common and received more for overtime or extra work conducted. Practical implications - Through an evaluation of its prevalence, this paper displays the need for action to tackle this illegitimate wage practice and briefly reviews a range of policy options and measures. Originality/value - This is the first extensive evaluation of the commonality of envelope wages in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates how social network use to find work affects pay. Analyses using the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality consider the extent to which a network contact¿s influence level affects a job applicant¿s pay, whether this effect differs for white, black, and Latino contacts, and how workplace racial context moderates this relationship. Three main findings emerge. First, having an influential contact¿one with hiring authority¿compared to having no contact yields higher pay. Second, white and minority contact influence on pay differs: among minority contacts, being an outsider (i.e., someone not employed by the firm to which the applicant applies) is associated with higher pay, but being an employee of the firm¿an insider¿is not. Third, regardless of workplace racial context, black and Latino contacts¿ influence is most beneficial when their race/ethnicity is not known to the hiring agent. We offer a new interpretation of the mixed findings with regard to the relationship between social network use and pay. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of two key team-based pay characteristics - namely reward allocation procedures (i.e. reward based on norms of equity, equality or some combination of the two) and incentive intensity - on both the amount and type of help given to one another among members of outcome-interdependent teams. Designlmethodology/approach - A total of 180 undergraduate students participate in a laboratory simulation with a 2 × 3 experimental design. Servicing virtual "clients," participants receive pre-scripted requests for assistance from anonymous teammates. ANOVA and hierarchical regression analyses are used to test the hypotheses. Findings - Relative to equity-oriented group-based pay structures, equality-oriented pay structures are found to be associated with both significantly more help giving in general and more of the type of help likely to enhance group-level competencies (i.e. autonomous help). Incentive intensity strengthens the effects of reward allocation on the amount (but not the type) of help giving. Research limitations/implications - While the* short time frame of the simulation poses a significant threat to external validity, the findings suggest that team-based compensation practices may provide organizational leaders with an important tool by which to shape critical, helping-related team processes, with potentially important implications for both team learning and performance. Practical implications - Managers interested in promoting capacity-building and helping among team members should avoid allocating team rewards strictly on the basis of the individual contribution. Originality/value - This paper provides the first empirical findings regarding how alternative modes of team-based reward distribution may influence key group processes among members of outcome interdependent teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper seeks to complement earlier studies on ethnic minority underdevelopment in Vietnam by empirically examining the ethnic wage gap for the wage employed in the Vietnamese labour market, using data from a large-scale household survey conducted in 2002. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper uses the "index number" decomposition method suggested by Oaxaca to decompose the ethnic wage gap into treatment and endowment effects at both the mean and selected quantiles of the conditional wage" distribution. Findings -- The results confirm the existence of an ethnic wage gap in the labour market, though the gap is found to be substantially narrower than the ethnic gap detected using household living standard measures for Vietnam. Decomposition results reveal that the ethnic wage gap is largely attributable to differentials in the returns to endowments, a finding invariant whether the mean or selected quantiles of the conditional wage distribution are examined. Research limitations/implications -- In the absence of feasible alternatives, the paper uses an ad hoc procedure to correct for selectivity into wage employment for the quantile regression models. In addition, due to data constraints with regard to earnings, the paper does not examine the ethnic wage gap for the self-employed. Originality/value -- The paper is the first to analyse the ethnic wage gap in the Vietnam labour market and one of the few to examine ethnic pay differentials at selected points of the conditional wage distribution using quantile regression analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the study of strategy game theory, it is important to introduce risk into matrix countermeasure. First, introduce risk into matrix countermeasure, then construct the risk model, and finally the optimal strategy is selected and analyzed. As a result, the matrix countermeasure based on risk is more practical than the common matrix countermeasure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the gender gap in earnings in one science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) profession: chemistry. The primary purpose of this research is to determine the relative effects of human capital, labor market structure, and employer discrimination on the gender pay gap of chemists. Design/methodology/approach - Data for this study are obtained from the American Chemical Society (ACS) 2000* census of its membership (N = 22,081). According to the ACS census, male chemists earned 30 percent more than female chemists in 2000. This earnings gap is decomposed by modeling earnings as an exponential function of gender, education, work experience, work function, type of employer, size of employer, region of work and a variety of family and demographic characteristics. Findings - The analysis shows that 83 percent of the gender gap is explained by differences in productive characteristics and 17 percent is due to discrimination or other unmeasured factors. Experience and education account for much of the gender gap - on average, men have higher levels of experience and education than do women. Work function and employer also help account for the pay gap - women are more likely to hold positions in lower paying chemistry positions. Practical implications - This paper suggests that workplace diversity in STEM professions is not likely to occur without wage parity between men and women in STEM professions. One viable approach to achieving gender pay equity in STEM professions is to provide a federal tax incentive for compliance with federal pay equity standards. Originality/value - This paper shows the level of employer discrimination in one important STEM profession (chemistry), and its implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on recognizing the contribution made to development by grassroots women working on a voluntary basis in long term development projects. Using the example of healthcare, the paper problematizes the widespread move towards an increased reliance on voluntary and third sector provision. Drawing on literature around women’s community activism, the research considers the extent to which women carrying out health promotion work in Peru have taken on this role as more than “just voluntary work,” highlighting their long term commitment during more than a decade of health promotion activities. The paper develops debates around the professionalization of voluntary work, particularly considering the issue of economic remuneration for health promoters, and emphasizing the gendered nature of their voluntarism; concluding by questioning the sustainability of poor women’s long term, and largely unpaid, involvement as the linchpins of community development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to study the determinants of wages and the labor market success of two kinds of entrepreneurial women in Germany: self-employed and salaried businesswomen, and investigate whether ethnicity is important in these challenging jobs. Design/methodology/approach -- Using Lee's technique, the paper first estimates the probabilities of being in self-employment, a salaried businesswoman, working in other non-entrepreneurial jobs, and not working at all with a multinomial logit, and accordingly adjust the wage regressions for selection and heteroscedasticity. By employing data from the German Socio-economic Panel one can differentiate among different types of self-employment and business entrepreneurship, control for human capital and labor market structures, and estimate wages for native and immigrant women aged 20 to 65. The subject scope includes literature on entrepreneurship, self-employment, gender-edge, and immigrant earnings assimilation. Findings -- Self-employment offers businesswomen a lucrative avenue with higher monetary rewards, albeit for a shorter spell. If salaried businesswomen went into self-employment, they would receive considerably higher wages and for at least 30 years. However, if self-employed businesswomen went into salaried jobs, their wages would decline. This suggests that it is the self-employment sector that offers better opportunities and monetary success, but not many businesswomen go into it. In these two entrepreneurial outlets human capital, years-since-migration and ethnicity are not significant. Research limitations/implications -- Future research should overcome the cross-sectional limitation and take advantage of the panel aspect. Practical implications -- Many qualified, highly educated and talented women are not part of the labor market and the entrepreneurial world. Germany should encourage these women to work, as it needs skilled workers and a stronger entrepreneurial sector. Financial disparities still exist between West and East Germany. Originality/value -- The novelty comes from asserting that the entrepreneurial spirit can also exist in salaried jobs. The added value is the new empirical evidence on the importance of self-employment in Germany, where women fare well and success does not depend on ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A higher number of complaints have been filed by the public due to delays by public sectors in taking action and providing services to the public. This suggests that service quality is not being delivered as expected by customers. With competency-based pay being offered in the public sector under the System Saraan Malaysia (SSM), which aims to produce capable workers who are responsive to customers' demands by providing quality services, one would expect that there would be an improvement in the general quality of the services rendered. Thus, this research aimed to investigate the relationship between the extent of competency-based pay practices and service quality. The findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between competency-based pay practices and service provision, one of the SERVQUAL dimensions found in this study. Thus, Malaysian public organisations should offer this type of pay as frequently as possible in order to motivate civil servants to provide quality services to the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to investigate three hypotheses for the existence of a wage premium between incumbents and employees who are hired from other employers in the external labour market. Design/methodology/approach — The paper presents estimates of wage equations for a sample of externally hired workers and internally promoted employees. It uses an employer-employee matched data set of Dutch firms from all economic sectors (1998). It controls for various observed characteristics of the firm, the worker and the job. Findings — The estimates reject the hypothesis that firms rely more on observable characteristics for wage formation of external candidates. Nor do the estimates favor the prediction that there is a wage premium due to the option value of risky employees. Finally, employees who are recruited internally have on average a 15 percent higher wage (net of tenure) than comparable employees who are hired from other employers. Research limitations/implications — It was found that there was a limited possibility of identifying risky employees. Practical implications — Finns do not reward risky employees; the incumbents deem to be of better quality than the external hirees. Originality/value — Here the focus is on hirees who were previously employed elsewhere. Usually, a broader definition of external hiring is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a pay increase on job satisfaction among junior officers in the Chinese Army. A job satisfaction questionnaire was devised for the study and was used both before and after a raise in pay with junior military officers from one military region to detect changes in job satisfaction. Before the pay increase, job satisfaction was at a comparatively low level; after the pay raise, it improved significantly. This improvement also occurred in all facets of job satisfaction. It was concluded that pay satisfaction plays an important role in job satisfaction for Chinese junior military officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We analyse the role of private schools in the teachers' labour market. Private schools employ an increasingly-disproportionate share of teachers in Britain, relative to the number of their pupils. Their teachers are more likely than state school teachers to possess post-graduate qualifications, and to be specialists in shortage subjects. Recruitment from the state sector is an important and growing source of new teaching staff for private schools, and a small though increasing deduction from the supply of new teachers available to state schools. Private school teachers enjoy greater job satisfaction, work with fewer pupils, enjoy longer holidays and, in the case of women, shorter weekly hours. Among women, pay is lower in the private sector, which we interpret as a compensating differential. For men, there is no significant inter-sectoral difference in pay. However, for both men and women there is evidence of a substantial pay premium for private-school teachers trained in shortage subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess the relevance of the glass ceiling effect, according to which the gender log wage gap accelerates in the upper tail of the wage distribution, at the firm level. Design/methodology/approach - The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 4,654 employees, working in a French private company from the Defence and Aerospace sector. Quantile wage regressions were used to study whether a glass ceiling effect exits at the firm level. The difference between the male and female wage distributions is also decomposed into two components, one due to differences in labour market characteristics between men and women and one due to differences in rewards to these individual characteristics. Findings - It was found that the gender wage gap measured through OLS is quite low, less than 8 per cent when controlling for age, experience, qualification and location. It remains rather flat along the wage distribution, a result which casts doubt on the glass ceiling theory. The gender gap is mainly due to differences in labour market characteristics rather than to differences in the rewards of these characteristics, especially among executives. Finally, women face a lower probability of reaching higher hierarchical positions within the firm. Research limitations/implications - Taking into account firm effects matters when measuring the magnitude of the gender wage throughout the wage gap distribution. Originality/value - This paper presents original estimates of the gender wage gap with an unusual, firm-based sample of workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify the dimensionality of the procedural justice construct and the criteria used by employees to assess procedural justice, in the context of salary determination. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a survey of 297 Canadian workers, the paper uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the dimensionality and the discriminant and convergent validity of our procedural justice construct. Convergent and predictive validity are also tested using hierarchical linear regressions. Findings: The paper shows the multidimensionality of the procedural justice construct: justice of the salary determination process is assessed through the perceived characteristics of allocation procedures, the perceived characteristics of decision-makers, and system transparency. Research limitations/implications: Results could be biased towards acceptance; this is discussed. The results also suggest possible extensions to the study. Practical implications: Knowledge of the justice standards improves the ability of organizations to effectively manage the salary determination process and promote its acceptance among employees. Emphasizes the need to adequately manage the selection, training, and perception of decision makers. Originality/value: The paper identifies the standards of procedural justice for salary determination processes. It contributes to the theoretical literature by providing a new multidimensional conceptualization, which helps to better understand the psychological process underlying the perception of procedural justice. The presence of a dimension associated with decision makers is novel and critical for compensation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporary workers in Britain experience lower job quality. However, the proportion of employees on temporary contracts has fallen since a decade ago to just 5.5% in 2005. There have also been qualitative improvements. Many temporary workers now fall under the protection of the Fixed Term Employees’ (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, and the relative pay of fixed-term contract workers has since improved. In contrast, the subsequent fortunes of seasonal and casual workers with short contracts have been mixed. Furthermore, the Act excludes agency workers, and the paper calls for additional legislative action to ensure fair treatment for this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This paper aims to examine the long-run and dynamic behaviors of real wage-employment-productivity relationship, using Malaysian manufacturing data, and to determine which related labor theories are supported. Design/methodology/approach — Time-series econometric techniques, which include stationarity and cointegration tests, vector error correction model, impulse response function and variance decomposition, are applied to analyze the relationships of real wages, employment and productivity. Findings — A long run relationship exists between real wages, employment and real productivity, with real wages being the main variable that adjusts to maintain cointegration. The theory that real wages inversely affect employment is not supported, while the performance-based pay scheme theory, and not the efficiency wage theory, is validated. Research limitations/implications — Although the data used to measure wages and employment account for most of the production in the various manufacturing sectors, they do not include all the manufacturing industries. The analysis is also limited in time span since data for earlier periods are not available. Practical implications — The findings can provide assistance to policy makers in their implementation and evaluation of labor policies. Originality/value — The real wage-employment-productivity relationship is examined in the framework of the Malaysian manufacturing sector, and the study includes both the long-term and short-run behaviors of the variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper seeks to analyse the impact of different public policies on inequality, unemployment, growth and the tax burden. Design/methodology/approach - A dynamic general equilibrium model is built, in which growth is driven by endogenous technical progress, to analyse the impacts of several policies (minimum wage, redistribution and R&D subsidies financed by an income tax). Findings - All policies except pure redistribution are better than non-intervention in terms of growth. The authors distinguish three major policy patterns. The Anglo-Saxon model is characterised by high growth, high inequality, low unemployment and a low tax burden. The Nordic model combines high growth, low inequality and low unemployment, and a high tax burden. The Continental European model puts together medium inequality and a medium tax burden, and higher long-term growth is paid for by high unemployment. Research limitations/implications - The model could be extended by the introduction of educational policy. Originality/value - The paper distinguishes three configurations that capture the main features of the developments in Anglo-Saxon countries, Scandinavian countries, and Continental European countries in the 1990s. It thereby provides a general framework to analyse and compare these experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can you name 20 influences on pay that could cause a difference in earnings between two ostensibly equal employees? This short, involving exercise can be used to illustrate the numerous influences that affect how employees' pay is determined, for example, education, experience required for the job, supply and demand, company size, seniority, and merit. It identifies and clarifies three major categories of influences--internal consistency, external competitiveness, and individual contribution--that affect pay decisions and pay policies. The exercise stimulates students' thinking about pay issues and sets the stage for a discussion of effective compensation decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to build on existing studies on the relationship between individual wages, age and experience, and provide new evidence on the determinants of wages in Italy. Design/methodology/approach -- Wage-age profiles, which include cohort variables to capture generational differences in wages and are characterised by a changing-over-time structure, are estimated by fixed and random effects panel regressions. The analysis exploits a longitudinal dataset of administrative data on wages for the period 1985-1999. Findings -- This paper shows that wage to age profiles for different cohorts of workers are not stable over time: although younger generations of Italian workers are benefiting from higher starting wages than older generations, they face the prospect of lower growth of future earnings. It also confirms the existence of a significant supply effect: the bigger the cohort relative to the active population, the smaller the cohort's gain in terms of wage levels. Finally, it captures the dependence of individual wages on aggregate labour market conditions: individual wages are shown to be negatively related to the unemployment rate and positively related to the union wage index. Research limitations/implications -- Although the paper does not propose a novel theoretical approach to individual wage analysis, it demonstrates the benefits of a more integrated empirical analysis of individual wages. Practical implications -- The empirical findings suggest that it would be possible and useful to integrate the changing age profiles of individual wages with the estimation and projections of Italian aggregate industry and service sector average wages. Originality/value -- The paper provides new evidence on the determinants of the dynamics of individual wages through the estimation of time-varying wage to age profiles of workers in the Italian industry and service sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to test the extent to which pay satisfaction is equivalent to perceptions of pay fairness in order to call to attention the need for care in designing instruments in order to lessen the likelihood of the confounding of concepts within measures as has been in numerous previous studies. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaire data were collected as part of a larger project seeking to understand the customer service behaviors of business owners for four groups of self-employed business owners from Latvia, Germany, the UK, and the USA. Findings – It is found that while pay satisfaction and pay fairness are not the same construct, with the exception of internal pay comparisons, the self-employed may not distinguish between pay fairness and pay satisfaction in a meaningful manner. Research limitations/implications – All four of the samples included in the current study had limited control over their compensation as the economy and industry are the most powerful influences on the income of the self-employed in small businesses. It might prove useful to examine whether these results hold true for individuals with highly variable compensation. Practical implications – Organizations should not assume that individuals naturally differentiate between pay fairness and pay satisfaction. It also would appear that there are few differences in the perceptions between the self-employed based upon country of origin. Originality/value – While many studies have been performed on pay fairness and pay satisfaction that have assumed that they are distinct constructs, this is the first study to use a multi-step process in order to systematically and empirically examine the degree to which they are similar. This is done across four countries and with a sample of self-employed business people – a group rarely examined in human resource research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to map some of the diversity in employee relations in Germany that is overlooked, first, within assessments of the German labour market that focus on the national level and second, within separate studies in this ares that emphasize attempts by employers to circumvent important institutions. Design/methodology/approach - The research adopts a quantitative approach to examine data for German manufacturing and service sectors on both the spread of industry-wide collective agreements and the extent to which workers are paid wage rates that are higher than those set out in those agreements. It also assesses the prevalence of profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes. Findings - Industry-wide collective agreements are not the burden that they are often portrayed. Actual wage rates and the prevalence of profit sharing and ESOSs make German workplaces more heterogeneous than critics and advocates of the German economic model posit. Research limitations/implications - The data are limited to Germany; however, Germany occupies a prominent position, not just within much of the employment relations literature, but also in terms of economic output. The research is also limited by an inability to provide evidence on workplaces that undercut sectoral collective agreements and to disaggregate the data further by sector and firm size/location. Originality/value - The paper provides a counterpoint to the portrayals of employee relations in Germany that often present a homogeneous picture of those relations. For the first time, data on the spread of profit sharing and employee share ownership schemes in German workplaces at the sectoral level are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to measure and analyse the wage gap between male part- and full-timers in the private sector of six European countries, i,e. Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Design/methodology/approach - Using a unique matched employer-employee data set providing harmonised information on six European countries (the 1995 European Structure of Earnings Survey), the empirical strategy is based on the estimation of standard Mincer wage equations and the Oaxaca and Ransom wage gap decomposition technique. First, individual gross hourly wages are regressed on a set of human capital variables only and second, a wider range of control variables related to e.g. occupation, sector of activity, firm size, and level of wage bargaining is inserted. Findings -The study finds that the raw gap in hourly gross pay amounts to 16 per cent of a male part-timer's wage in Spain, to 24 per cent in Belgium, to 28 per cent in Denmark and Italy, to 67 per cent in the UK and to 149 per cent in Ireland. Human capital differences explain between 31 per cent of the observed wage gap in the UK and 71 per cent in Denmark. When the whole set of explanatory variables is included in the wage regressions, a much larger part of the gap is explained by differences in observed characteristics (except in Italy). Research limitation/implications - Unfortunately, the paper is not able to correct for workers' potential self-selection into part-time and full-time employment. Results suggest that policy initiatives to promote lifelong learning and training are of great importance to help part-timers catch up with full-timers in terms of human capital. Moreover, except for Italy, they point to a persisting problem of occupational and sectoral segregation between men working part-time and full-time which requires renewed policy attention. Originality/value - Economic theory advances a number of reasons for the existence of a wage gap between part-time and full-time workers. Empirical work has concentrated on the wage effects of part-time work for women. For men, much less empirical evidence exists, mainly because of lacking data. This paper therefore makes a valuable contribution. The more so given that (to the best of our knowledge) there exists no cross-national evidence with respect to men's part-time wage penalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper's purpose is to investigate the relationships between pay communication and referent choice, pay satisfaction and pay equity perceptions. Design/methodology/approach - A sample of 149 employed graduate business students from a variety of organizations were surveyed at two different times, first to assess dependent variables (pay satisfaction and pay equity perceptions), and second to measure perceived pay policies. Findings - Contrary to predictions, increased pay communication was not associated with referent choice, and referent choice was unrelated to pay attitudes. Pay communication was also unassociated with pay satisfaction. However, increased pay communication was found to be negatively related to pay equity perceptions. Research limitations/implications - A two-questionnaire survey methodology was designed to minimize the possibility of common method variance. Because few employers communicate about pay, there was restriction of range for this independent variable, perhaps constraining results. However, the use of multiple employers, even in this student population, constitutes a meaningful sample. Practical implications - Employers should be cautious about what pay information they provide to their employees, since this study suggests that increased pay communication results in lower pay equity perceptions. Originality/value - Research in this area is extremely limited and thus this paper provides a strong foundation for further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns about the recruitment and retention of teachers have prompted recent studies into the status of teaching in several different countries. This paper analyses the findings of a survey designed to investigate public perceptions of the teaching profession in the UK. It was undertaken as part of a broader DfES-funded longitudinal project that has been using a mixed methodology to explore individual teachers' perceptions of their status, and the status of teaching as viewed by education stakeholders and the general public. Whilst the survey confirmed many previous findings about the way in which teaching is viewed, it also produced some surprises. First, 50% of respondents deemed teaching to be an attractive career, a higher percentage than expected. Second, men, especially older men, were more likely than women to see teaching as an attractive career. Third, the survey found no obvious differences in the comparative status accorded to primary and secondary teachers. This is in sharp contrast to the views of many writers in this field who have argued that traditionally the younger the children taught, the lower the occupational status of their teachers. Overall, the findings suggest a positive change in the public perceptions of teaching particularly amongst the younger age-range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]