Reference Wage Research Articles

Wage Structures, Fairness Perceptions, and Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data

The paper investigates the impact of firms’ wage structures and workers’ wage fairness perceptions on workers’ well-being. For this purpose, worker and establishment surveys are linked with administrative social security data. Four variables are generated, using approximately half a million worker-year observations, that describe firms’ wage structures and workers’ positions within the wage structures: own absolute wages, internal reference wages within firms, external reference wages, and the wage dispersion in firms. The interrelations between these wage structure variables, workers’ perceived wage fairness, and job satisfaction are then analyzed using regressions. Interpersonal wage comparisons between co-workers in the same firm and across firms as well as wage fairness perceptions are found to be significant determinants of workers’ well-being. The overall findings suggest that equity and social status considerations as well as altruistic preferences towards co-workers and inequality aversion are more important than signal considerations in this context.

Rethinking the Contribution-Benefit Linkage in Pay-As-You-Go Retirement Systems Based on Algerian Case

In Pay-As-You-Go systems, retirement benefits result from the multiplication of the reference wage by the contribution duration by an annuity rate. This formulation can undergo some adjustments to ensure sustainability within a changing environment. In this paper, we showed that the current contribution-benefit linkage might generate a large gap between individuals in terms of profitability and thus in terms of wealth accumulation over long periods. Considering the possible career scenarios in the Algerian retirement system, we found that return rates vary from 9.6% to 13.2%. To reduce inequality, we propose a new retirement benefit formula partially based on the actuarial fairness principle. Keywords: retirement, PAYG, equality, IRR, scenario, Algeria.

Reference wages and turnover intentions: evidence from linked employer-employee data

ABSTRACT This research note analyzes the nexus between workers’ turnover intentions and workers’ own wages, internal and external reference wages. Worker and establishment surveys are linked with administrative social security data for all workers in surveyed establishments. Approximately half a million worker-year observations are used to predict conditional internal and external reference wages. Results show that higher external and internal reference wages are correlated with higher turnover intentions. Thus, external reference wages seem to serve as outside options and higher reference wages of co-workers seem rather to reduce own social status than to signal better future prospects at the current employer.

Economic stability promotes gift-exchange in the workplace

We extend Akerlof’s (1982) gift-exchange model to the case in which reference wages respond to changes in economic conditions. Our model shows that these changes spur disagreements between workers and employers regarding the reference wage. These disagreements tend to weaken the gift-exchange relationship, thus reducing production levels and wages. We find support for these predictions in a controlled yet realistic workplace environment. Our work also sheds light on several stylized facts regarding employment relationships, such as the increased intensity of labor conflicts when economic conditions are unstable.

The prevalence and associated factors of nonadherence to antihypertensive medication in secondary healthcare.

Non-adherence (NA) to medication is a major contributor to treatment failure in hypertensive patients. Factors of the ecological model, at family/healthcare professional, service, and system levels, are rarely evaluated as correlates of NA in hypertensive patients. This crossectional study assessed the prevalence of and associated factors of NA to antihypertensive medication among 485 hypertensive patients upon receiving secondary healthcare. The Morisky Green Levine Scale(MGLS) measured the implementation phase of adherence, and the Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Portuguese-speaking Adults (SAHLPA) instrument, health literacy. Multivariate analysis to NA included variables according to the levels of the ecological model. Most patients were female (56.3%), white (53.2%), mean age of 62.0 ± 12.6years, illiterate (61.6%), with low health literacy (70.9%), and low income (65.4%). Uncontrolled BP was frequent (75.2%); 57.1% of patients were nonadherent. In multivariate analysis based on the ecological model, adjusted for micro, meso- and macro-level correlates, NA was associated only with variables of patient-level: low health literacy (OR 1.62, CI 1.07-2.44, p = 0.020), income ≥ two reference wages (OR 0.46, CI 0.22-0.93, p = 0.031), lack of homeownership (OR 1.99, CI 1.13-3.51, p = 0.017), sedentarism (OR 1.78, CI 1.12-2.83, p = 0.014), and complexity of treatment (number of medications taken ≥ two times/day) (OR 1.56, CI 1.01-2.41, p = 0.042). In this group of severely hypertensive patients with high cardiovascular risk, only patient-related characteristics were associated with NA. Our findings highlight the need for effective actions to optimize clinical outcomes in similar healthcare programs.

An EU minimum wage target for adequate in-work incomes?

This article summarises the arguments in favour of an EU initiative on minimum wages and highlights the steps that have been taken so far, focusing, in particular, on the First Stage consultation document prepared by the European Commission. Based on this consultation document and previous proposals, this article assesses some of the issues related to promoting an EU target minimum wage as a percentage of a national reference wage. Focusing on the adequacy of minimum wages for workers and their families, this article highlights first, the impact rather technical issues relating to the definition of the reference wage may have, and second, the importance of considering the interaction of the minimum wage with the broader tax benefit system in ensuring adequate in-work incomes. Whereas an EU initiative on minimum wages certainly has merit, these two caveats illustrate the need for a clear definition of what one wants to achieve by this initiative, and indicate that specific goals will require additional accompanying measures, such as a further monitoring of the net incomes of minimum wage earners

Nonadherence to Immunosuppressive Medications Following Pediatric Kidney Transplantation Within Full Cost Coverage Health System: Prevalence and Correlates.

Pediatric patients are at higher risk of nonadherence to immunosuppressive medication after kidney transplant and the resulting adverse outcomes. Factors associated with nonadherence vary, which follow an epidemiological framework and according to health system patterns. The Brazilian public health system covers all costs of kidney transplant, including immunosuppressive medications. We aimed to assess the prevalence and correlates of nonadherence to immunosuppressive medications in a pediatric kidney transplant population who received free access to immunosuppressive medications within the health care system. In this single-center crosssectional study, we studied a convenience sample of 156 outpatients (< 18 years old) who were a minimum of 4 weeks posttransplant. Implementation nonadherence to immunosuppressive medications was measured by the 4 questions of the Basel Assessment of Adherence to Immunosuppressive Medications Scale. Multilevel correlates to non - adherence (patient, micro, and macro levels) were assessed. In our patient population, 61% were males, mean age was 13.6 ± 3.1 years, 77% were adolescents, and 84% received organs from deceased donors. We found that 33% were nonadherent to immuno - suppressive medications, mainly in timing (25%) and taking (10.9%) dimensions. Being an adolescent (odds ratio: 2.66; CI, 1.02-6.96), religion other than Catholic or Protestant (odds ratio: 4.33; CI, 1.13-16.67), and family income higher than 4 reference wages (odds ratio: 3.50; CI, 1.14-10.75) were factors associated with nonadherence. In our patient population of mostly adolescents, one-third displayed nonadherence to immunosuppressants. Unexpectedly, a higher economic profile, potentially representing better previous access to health care, was independently associated with nonadherence. This result highlights the need for identifying specific correlates to non - adherence before designing interventions.

Fair wage potential as a tool for social assessment in building projects

PurposeThe fair wage potential (FWP) is a social assessment method that can serve as an important measure to estimate the related social impacts along a product's life cycle; however, it does not admit a direct relation to the functional unit. This research presents the weighted fair wage potential (WFWP) method that relates the functional unit to the FWP. It is a simplified method to connect the material inventory to social data. This study aims to develop an approach to assess and choose the best construction typology for buildings based on the social sustainability of workers involved in the sectors.Design/methodology/approachThe study is presented in phases. Phase 1 selected and identified two Brazilian house projects, which were considered for the following processes: extraction of raw materials, manufacture of building materials and housing construction. Phase 2 assembled the social life cycle inventories and executed them using the social life cycle assessment (SLCA). The inventory of materials followed the functional unit: “1.0 m² of the built housing”, and the social inventory observed data extracted from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD). The study considered the stakeholder category “worker” and analysed the impact subcategory “fair salary”. The study also divided the social data into categories: worker gender, worker race/colour, worker union and worker formality to analyse the impact of subcategories: “equal opportunities/discrimination”, “freedom of association and collective bargaining” and “social benefits/social security”. Phase 3 compared the projects according to the results from the SLCA. The FWP considers the wage paid at supply chain sectors, and the WFWP relates the functional unit to the social data.FindingsThe results proved that the wages paid by the construction supply chain are fair. However, there are differences between the FWP of male and female workers, white and non-white workers, unionised and non-unionised workers and formal and informal workers. The study of the actual Brazilian minimum wage indicated that the FWP is sensitive to the reference wage to which the analysed wages paid are related. Considering the WFWP, the constructive typology employed in Project B can generate increased positive social impacts than Project A. The proposed study provides excellent results, and it can be adapted to different data to assess the social conditions of other countries and sectors.Research limitations/implicationsThere is not enough primary data available for the variables real wages and real working time; for this reason, these variables received secondary data. Another limitation is the data used for the year range, since Brazilian microdata do not include years before 2002 and years beyond 2015.Originality/valueThe WFWP differs from the existing social sustainability studies because it relates the material information to social data; also, it defines the best option among the analysed alternatives, taking into consideration social sustainability, which enables the project design to go beyond technical aspects. The constructive typology and materials take into account the social sustainability of the construction supply chain, generating more sustainable projects and improving the circumstances of affected stakeholders.

Gender pension gaps along the distribution: An application to the French case

AbstractIn this article we estimate the relative contributions to the gender pension gap of career duration and income earned at different points along the pension income distribution, as well as the role played by minimum pensions and other partly or wholly non-contributory policies in reducing this gap. Our research covers all retirees in France in 2012 employed in the public or private sector at least once in their lifetimes. We first highlight that at every point in the distribution, the gender pension gap is wider for private-sector retirees than for those in the public sector. This is because public sector careers are less fragmented and because the calculation of the public sector reference wage does not penalize career interruptions so heavily. This relative advantage of women in the public sector is probably an additional factor explaining their over-representation in this sector. Applying the decomposition method proposed by Firpo et al. (2007, 2009), we show that composition differences in the gender pension gap are essentially due to differences in contribution periods and wages, with a smaller effect of career duration in the public sector than in the private. In the first deciles, the gap can be attributed largely to differences in career duration. This effect gradually weakens, and differences in the reference wage become the main explanation. We also show that minimum contributory pensions play an extremely important role in limiting the gender pension gap in the first deciles, essentially in the private sector. Last, we show that in all cases the unexplained share of the pension gap is substantial only at the bottom of the distribution and, to a lesser extent, in the top decile. The unexplained share is generally smaller than the explained one and favours men.

Public Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Organ Donation and Transplantation: A Survey From a Medium-Sized Brazilian City

IntroductionIn Brazil, where organ donation occurs after brain death (BD) and needs family consent, notification of potential donors increased in the last decade, although family refusal is still around 40%. Among modifiable factors, there is a lack of knowledge by the population regarding BD and the process of organ donation. Our goal was to evaluate the knowledge of the population about these topics in a medium-sized Brazilian city with a high family refusal rate. MethodsIn a cross-sectional study, we randomly recruited 868 individuals in public places in January through March 2017. We collected data about demographics and concepts related to organ donation by interview. Groups were compared by χ2 test. ResultsMost of the subjects were women (57.3%), 54.6% of whom were white, and the mean age was 37.1 ±15.8 years; 58.8% had at least 11 years of schooling, and 55.8% had a monthly familiar income of < 3 reference wages. Individuals who declared to be donors (67.5%) were younger (36.0 ± 14.9 vs 39.6 ± 17.4 years, P = .007) and had higher schooling (47.3 vs 28.7% with > 11 years of schooling, P < .001). Among donors, 41% did not inform their families, 38% believed that donation could occur regardless of the kind of death, and 26.8% believed in the reversibility of BD. At least 90% of individuals, however, independent from donation status, would authorize organ donation of a relative if they previously knew the donation status of that relative. ConclusionWe observed, despite a high prevalence of potential donors, conflictive concepts regarding BD. This information suggests directions for the design of educative measures.

Social comparisons in job search

Using a laboratory experiment we examine how social comparisons affect behavior in a sequential search task. In a control treatment subjects search in isolation, while in two other treatments subjects get feedback on the search decisions and outcomes of a partner subject. The average level and rate of decline of reservation wages are similar across treatments. Nevertheless, subjects who are able to make social comparisons search differently from those who search in isolation. Within a search task we observe a reference wage effect: when a partner exits, the subject chooses a new reservation wage which is increasing in partner income. We also observe a social comparison effect between search tasks: subjects whose partners in a previous task searched for longer choose a higher reservation wage in the next task. Our findings imply that the provision of social information can change job-seekers search behavior.

Low health literacy in older patients with uncontrolled blood pressure at secondary care

Background: Low health literacy (LHL) is common among patients with chronic diseases. Studies on the association between LHL and uncontrolled blood pressure are limited to primary and tertiary levels of healthcare. Objective: We evaluated the prevalence and association between LHL and uncontrolled blood pressure in hypertensive patients in a secondary healthcare in Brazil. Material and methods: Our study had a cross-sectional design and included 485 patients, between August/2014 to March/2016. We evaluated health literacy, by Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Portuguese-Speaking Adults (SAHLPA-18), and the blood pressure control. Individuals with a score ≤14 in SAHLPA-18 were considered as LHL, and individuals with blood pressure ≥140/90 (or ≥130/80 in diabetic patients) were considered as having uncontrolled blood pressure. Results: A total of 56.0% female, with mean age 62.0±12.6 years. Illiterate participants were 61.6%, and 65.4% earned up to one reference wage. Both uncontrolled blood pressure and LHL were highly prevalent (75.1% and 70.9%, respectively), but there was no association between these two parameters. In multivariate analysis, uncontrolled blood pressure was associated with age (OR:0.96, CI:0.94-0.98, p&lt;0.001), diabetes mellitus (OR:4.36, CI:2.54-7.51; p&lt;0.001) and number of pills (OR:1.16, CI:1.08-1.25, p&lt;0.001). Conclusion: Even we found a high prevalence of LHL, the lack of association between LHL and uncontrolled blood pressure may be due to demographic characteristics of the sample, i.e., elderly people with low income and low schooling. HL assessment provides important information that supports actions to improve hypertension control and treatment.

Gender inequalities in pensions: different components similar levels of dispersion

While the average gender gap in pensions is quite well documented, gender differences in the distribution of pensions have rarely been explored. We show in this paper that pension dispersion is very similar for men and women within the French pension system of a given sector (public or private). Gender differences are less marked among retired civil servants than among former private sector employees. However, the determinants of these inequalities are not the same for men and women. Using a regression-based decomposition of the Gini coefficient, we find that pension dispersion is mostly due to dispersion of the reference wage for all retirees but gender differences exist. For women, in particular, pension dispersion is also due to the dispersion in contribution periods. We also decompose the Gini coefficient by source of pension to measure the impact of institutional rules (minimum pensions, survivor’s pension) on the extent of pension inequality. Unexpectedly, we find that the impact of minimum pensions is limited, although slightly larger for civil servants than for private-sector employees. Survivor’s pension schemes, on the other hand, contribute positively to pension dispersion among retired women.

Tax Bunching by Owners of Small Corporations

We study the options for income shifting by owners of small corporations in the Netherlands using bunching techniques on individual tax records over the period 2007–2011. We find that the distribution of gross labour income strongly peaks at the minimum level of the reference wage, specified in the tax code. Next, taxable labour income bunches at the cut-offs of the tax brackets. The elasticity of taxable income at the top tax cut-off ranges from 0.06 to 0.11. Distributed profits strongly responded to the temporary tax cut from 25 to 22% in 2007, which doubled tax revenues on dividends. We reconfirm the importance of intertemporal income shifting for business owners.

Homo Reciprocans Revisited

Do reciprocal workers work more if their wage compares well to similar workers in the economy? Are they more satisfied with their job? Predictions vary from theories. With a survey dataset with a representative sample of the German population, I construct a reference wage and measures for reciprocity for each worker. Depending on how much more or less a worker earns than the reference, I investigate how effort and job satisfaction react to reciprocity tendencies. The results suggest that a worker’s unpaid overtime hours increase with her relative earnings if above the reference; and the more so, the stronger her positive reciprocity tendency is. However, there is no such interaction for negative reciprocity. Job satisfaction is associated with reciprocity, yet insensitive to the interaction between reciprocity and relative income.

Transnational Filipinos in the UAE: Actors and Strategies

The United Arab Emirates are the second destination of Filipino emigrants in the world. Working opportunities in the Gulf along with endemic unemployment in the archipelago have attracted one million Filipinos to the UAE, mainly in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The first objective of this paper is to identify this population in order to confirm or disprove received ideas regarding the figures and structure of migration: do all Filipinos working in the UAE fit in the category of domestic workers or low-skilled workers? The second objective is to understand how the actors in these migrations (Filipino migrants, the Filipino State, UAE authorities) interact and what strategies — sometimes opposed, sometimes complementary — they use. The third objective is to identify in practice the problems arising from the interaction of these three actors, namely the issue of domestic workers who do not complete their contracts, the negative consequences of their abuse on the image of the Emirates, and setting a reference wage.

Multilevel Correlates of Non-Adherence in Kidney Transplant Patients Benefitting from Full Cost Coverage for Immunosuppressives: A Cross-Sectional Study.

BackgroundAdherence is the result of the interaction of the macro, meso, micro, and patient level factors. The macro level includes full coverage of immunosuppressive medications as is the case in Brazil. We studied the correlates of immunosuppressive non-adherence in post kidney transplant patients in the Brazilian health care system.MethodsUsing a cross-sectional design, adherence to immunosuppressives was assessed in a sample of 100 kidney transplant patients using a composite non-adherence score consisting of three methods (self-report [i.e., The Basel Adherence Scale for Assessment of Immunossupressives–BAASIS], collateral report, and immunosuppressive blood levels). Multilevel correlations of non-adherence were assessed (macro, meso, micro and patient level). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was applied to assess the correlates of non-adherence.ResultsOur sample consisted primarily of male (65%), Caucasians (72%) with a mean age of 45.0 ± 13.5 years old, who received grafts from a living donor (89%), with a mean time after transplantation of 72.3 ± 44.4 months. Prevalence of non-adherence was 51%. Family income higher than five reference wages (21.6 vs. 4%; OR 6.46 [1.35–30.89], p = 0.009; patient level), and having access to private health insurance (35.3% vs. 18.4%; OR 2.42 [0.96–6.10], p = 0.04; meso level) were associated with non-adherence in univariate analysis. Only the higher family income variable was retained in the multiple logistic regression model (OR 5.0; IC: 1.01–25.14; p = 0.04).ConclusionsHigher family income was the only factor that was associated with immunosuppressive non-adherence. In Brazil, lower income recipients benefit from better access to care and coverage of health care costs after transplantation. This is supposed to result in a better immunosuppressive adherence compared to high-income patients who have experienced these benefits continuously.

Wage comparisons in and out of the firm. Evidence from a matched employer–employee French database

This paper looks at the association between wage satisfaction and other people's pay, based on a matched employer–employee dataset. Three notions of reference wage appear to be being of particular importance: (i) the median wage level in one's firm, (ii) the level of wage of similar workers in the region, and (iii) the top 1% wage in one's firm. The first one triggers a signal effect, whereby all employees – especially young ones – whatever their relative position in the firm, are happier the higher the median wage in their firm, holding their own wage constant. The second and the third ones are sources of relative deprivation, i.e. workers’ satisfaction decreases with the gap between their own salary and these reference categories. These findings are based on objective measures of earnings as well as subjective declarations about wage satisfaction, awareness of other people's pay and reported income comparisons.

Salarios de eficiencia en un contexto de agentes heterogéneos y racionalidad limitada

Este artículo simula un mercado artificial del trabajo mediante algoritmos genéticos, con el propósito de determinar en un contexto de salarios de eficiencia y racionalidad limitada, los efectos de la heterogeneidad de firmas y trabajadores, sobre la dinámica de los salarios y el empleo. Se concluye que la heterogeneidad en la calificación de los trabajadores, o en su percepción del salario de referencia, obliga a las firmas a competir ofreciendo salarios más altos, especialmente cuando la economía está sujeta al régimen de salario mínimo. En el mercado de trabajadores menos calificados, en ausencia de sala­rio mínimo no existe equilibrio estable, porque el aprendizaje inductivo puede conducir a las firmas a optar por dos estrategias de salario diferentes.

A Theory of Fairness in Labour Markets.

I study a gift-exchange game, in which a profit-maximizing firm offers a wage to a fair-minded worker, who then chooses how much effort to exert. The worker judges a transaction fairer to the extent that his own gain is more nearly equal to the firm's gain. The worker calculates both players' gains relative to what they would have gained from the "reference transaction," which is the transaction that the worker most recently personally experienced. The model explains several empirical regularities: rent sharing, persistence of a worker's entry wage at a firm, insensitivity of an incumbent worker's wage to market conditions, and-if the worker is loss averse and the reference wage is nominal-downward nominal wage rigidity. The model also makes a number of novel predictions. Whether the equilibrium is efficient depends on which notion of efficiency is used in the presence of the worker's fairness concern, and which is appropriate to use partly depends on whether loss aversion is treated as legitimate for normative purposes.