People do care about their income relative to others, especially coworkers: A randomly chosen subset of employees of the University of California was informed about a new website listing the pay of all University employees. … The vast majority of new users access[ed] data on the pay of colleagues in their own department. … Workers with salaries below the median for their pay unit and occupation report lower pay and job satisfaction, while those earning above the median report no higher satisfaction. Likewise, below-median earners report a significant increase in the likelihood of looking for a new job, while above-median earners are unaffected. (
Where Inequality Matters
Where Inequality Matters
Where Inequality Matters
People do care about their income relative to others, especially coworkers: A randomly chosen subset of employees of the University of California was informed about a new website listing the pay of all University employees. … The vast majority of new users access[ed] data on the pay of colleagues in their own department. … Workers with salaries below the median for their pay unit and occupation report lower pay and job satisfaction, while those earning above the median report no higher satisfaction. Likewise, below-median earners report a significant increase in the likelihood of looking for a new job, while above-median earners are unaffected. (
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