Why do employers only reward extreme performance? Examining the relationships among performance, pay, and turnover.

This study develops an efficiency explanation for commonly observed performance-based compensation contracts that aggressively reward extreme performance while largely disregarding performance distinctions for moderate performance levels. In response to this reward-the-extremes contract, the paper...

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Published in:Administrative Science Quarterly Vol. 37; pp. 198 - 220
Main Author: Zenger, Todd R.
Format: Article
Published: Administrative Science Quarterly June 1992
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Why do employers only reward extreme performance? Examining the relationships among performance, pay, and turnover.
      aug:
        au: Zenger, Todd R.
      su:
        Pay for performance
        Labor turnover
        Labor supply
        Management
        Engineers
        Employment
      sug:
        subj:
          Pay for performance
          Labor turnover
          Labor supply
          Management
          Engineers
          Employment
      ab: This study develops an efficiency explanation for commonly observed performance-based compensation contracts that aggressively reward extreme performance while largely disregarding performance distinctions for moderate performance levels. In response to this reward-the-extremes contract, the paper predicts a relationship between performance and turnover that fluctuates by performance level. Evidence of the hypothesized contract and the resulting pattern of turnover are provided empirically with data collected from 984 engineering employees of two large high-technology companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. The data confirm that extremely high and moderately low performers are likely to remain in firms offering these contracts while moderately high and extremely low performers are likely to depart. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
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    language: English
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