Publications

April 2018
Article

Consumers Avoid Buying from Firms with Higher CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios

By: Bhavya Mohan, Tobias Schlager, Rohit Deshpandé and Michael I. Norton

We document a novel driver of consumer behavior: pay ratio disclosure. Swiss corporation performance data gathered during a legally mandated pay ratio referendum reveals that salient high pay ratios are associated with decreased firm sales (Pilot Study). An... View Details

Keywords: Pay Ratio; Wage Fairness; Purchase Intention; Customers; Wages; Fairness; Consumer Behavior

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Article

How Much (More) Should CEOs Make? A Universal Desire for More Equal Pay

By: Sorapop Kiatpongsan and Michael I. Norton

Do people from different countries and different backgrounds have similar preferences for how much more the rich should earn than the poor? Using survey data from 40 countries (N = 55,238), we compare respondents' estimates of the wages of people in different... View Details

Keywords: Inequality; Justice; Wage; Cross-cultural; Wages; Equality and Inequality; Fairness; Income; Employees; Management Teams; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

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22 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

The ‘Mother of Fair Trade’ was an Unabashed Price Protectionist

state police powers to control competitive practices and price outcomes for ordinary goods and services was nothing less than a constitutional revolution, which would also affect labor standards, wage legislation, and consumer prices.”... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail; Health; Legal Services

16 Jun 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Paying Up for Fair Pay: Consumers Prefer Firms with Lower CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios

Keywords: by Bhavya Mohan, Michael I. Norton & Rohit Deshpandé

September 2016
Background Note

A Brief History of African American Leaders in Unions and the Labor Movement

By: Steven Rogers and Mercer Cook

This historically focused background note highlights the role of African American Labor Leaders in both the Labor Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. In doing so, it attempts to both highlight these noteworthy individuals and demonstrate the innate connection... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Working Conditions; Political History; Social History; Economic History; Business History; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Labor And Management Relations; Social Issues; Culture; Equality And Inequality; Rights; Leading Change; Race; Civil Society or Community; Labor Unions

Educators

15 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Americans Voted for an Income Tax

rate (the share of the next dollar earned that is paid in taxes) at the top of the income ladder. Speaker of the House John Boehner, for example, argued that those high earners already paid their fair share: "The top one percent of... View Details

Keywords: by Matthew C. Weinzierl

October 2020 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Union Square Hospitality Group: Hospitality Included

By: Peter Boumgarden, Ryan W. Buell, Lamar Pierce and Richard Ryffel

In 2015, Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG), helmed by famous restauranteur Danny Meyer, sent shockwaves through the restaurant industry by announcing the end of tipping in its restaurants. Under its new policy, Hospitality Included (HI), USHG would charge higher... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Tipping; Revenue Sharing; Service Operations; Policy; Change; Human Resources; Management; Food and Beverage Industry

Educators

Article

Contested Meanings of Freedom: Workingmen's Wages, the Company Store System and the Godcharles v. Wigeman Decision

By: Laura Phillips Sawyer

In 1886, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down a law that prohibited employers from paying wages in company store scrip and mandated monthly wage payments. The court held that the legislature could not prescribe mandatory wage contracts for legally competent... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Rights; Fairness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Laws and Statutes; Pennsylvania

09 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 9, 2015

Pay Ratios By: Mohan, Bhavya, Michael I. Norton, and Rohit Deshpandé Abstract— Prior research examining consumer expectations of equity and price fairness has not addressed wage fairness, as measured by a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Feb 2020
News

Breaking the Salary Sharing Taboo

04 Mar 2015
What Do You Think?

Can a Laissez-Faire Approach Fix Labor Market Inequality?

regarding wages ." Gerald Nanninga concluded that, "The problem with universally mandated rules of business (be it wages, hours, or whatever) is that it limits strategic options At least with the laissez View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

25 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 25

exiting shareholders receive fair value in MBOs. This article identifies four factors that create an unlevel playing field in that market check: information asymmetries, valuable management, management financial incentives to discourage... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

The Height Tax, and Other New Ways to Think about Taxation

fixed and observable measure of ability," Weinzierl continues. "That is where height comes in. It turns out that each inch of height is associated with about a 2 percent higher wage among white males in the United States. View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2010 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Ken Langone: Member, GE Compensation Committee

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Lizzie Gomez

On September 2003, Richard Grasso stepped down as chairman and CEO of the New York Stock Exchange, following weeks of intense public criticism over the size of his $190 million compensation package. As chairman of the committee that oversaw Grasso's payout, Ken Langone... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Executive Compensation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Labor and Management Relations; Wages; Change Management; Energy Industry; New York (city, NY)

Educators