- Home
- Publications
- Do Salaries Improve Worker Performance?
Do Salaries Improve Worker Performance?
Downloads
dp366_0Authors
External Authors
Buraimo, B. and Simmons, R.
Related Themes
Productivity, Trade, and Regional EconomiesTags
JEL Code
J33; M52
Journal
Labour Economics
Paper Category Number
366
We establish the effects of salaries on worker performance by exploiting a natural experiment in which some workers in a particular occupation (football referees) switch from short-term contracts to salaried contracts. Worker performance improves among those who move onto salaried contracts relative to those who do not. The finding is robust to the introduction of worker fixed effects indicating that it is not driven by better workers being awarded salary contracts. Nor is it sensitive to workers sorting into or out of the profession. Improved performance could arise from the additional effort workers exert due to career concerns, the higher income associated with career contracts (an efficiency wage effect) or improvements in worker quality arising from off-the-job training which accompanies the salaried contracts.
Related Blog Posts
Exploring the Data on UK Productivity Performance
Issam Samiri
Stephen Millard
11 Dec 2023
4 min read
UK Investment Past and Prospects: A Framework for Analysis
Catherine Mann
01 Dec 2023
6 min read
Where Are We With Regional Inequalities in the UK?
Adrian Pabst
Jagjit S. Chadha
01 Nov 2023
5 min read
Related Projects
Related News
Related Publications
The Nature of the Inflationary Surprise in Europe and the USA
21 Mar 2024
Discussion Papers
Productivity and Investment: Time to Manage the Project of Renewal
12 Mar 2024
UK Productivity Commission
Energy and Climate Policy in a DSGE Model of the United Kingdom
08 Mar 2024
Discussion Papers