Is Bigger Better? Explaining the Relationship Between Organization Size and Job Rewards

Kalleberg, Arne L.; Buren, Mark E. Van

doi:10.2307/2096406

Cited by 200 publications

(163 citation statements)

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“…For instance, firm size is positively correlated with organizational complexity, formalization, vertical differentiation, and diversification (Blau and Schoenherr 1971;Child 1972;Kalleberg and Van Buren 1994;Kimberly 1976), and has been found to have a profound effect on the organization of work (see Baron and Bielby 1984). In fact, firm size is the organizational characteristic most frequently used in studies of stratification (Kalleberg and Van Buren 1996;Villemez and Bridges 1988). The attention to firm size in studies of stratification has occurred, in part, because research on employment and compensation has consistently found that otherwise identical workers earn more when working for large firms.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research has found firm size to be strongly correlated with organizational practices such as formalization, training, and internal labor markets (Aldrich and Marsden 1988;Kalleberg and Van Buren 1996). These practices require workers to invest in firm-specific skills, and thus premium wages may accompany such practices as a means to incentivize workers to make these investments and to reduce worker turnover.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second and relatedly, sociological inquiry has long been directed toward studying how firm size affects stratification outcomes (e.g., Blau and Schoenherr 1971;Kalleberg and Van Buren 1996;Villemez and Bridges 1988). We continue that tradition by analyzing how changes in the FSWE may differ across the wage distribution and linking these differential changes to rising wage inequality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Yet, sociological inquiry into rising wage inequality has largely neglected the role of firms (see McCall 2004;Sørensen 2007). We see this as a particularly significant oversight given the importance given to the role of firms in earlier studies of stratification (e.g., Kalleberg and Van Buren 1996;Stolzenberg 1978). In particular, the neo-structuralist stratification perspective persuasively argued that through their decisions regarding the allocation of jobs, how to reward workers for their labor, and where they place their boundaries, organizations play a key role in how income is stratified (Baron and Bielby 1980).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences

Cobb

Lin

2017

Organization Science

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Wage inequality in the United States has risen dramatically over the past few decades, prompting scholars to develop a number of theoretical accounts for the upward trend. This study argues that large firms have been a prominent labor-market institution that mitigates inequality. By compensating their low-and middle-wage employees with a greater premium than their higher-wage counterparts, large U.S. firms reduced overall wage dispersion. Yet, broader changes to employment relations associated with the demise of internal labor markets and the emergence of alternative employment arrangements have undermined large firms' role as an equalizing institution. Using data from the Current Population Survey and the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we find that in 1989, although all private-sector workers benefited from a firm-size wage premium, the premium was significantly higher for individuals at the lower end and middle of the wage distribution compared to those at the higher end. Between 1989 and 2014, the average firm-size wage premium declined markedly. The decline, however, was exclusive to those at the lower end and middle of the wage distribution, while there was no change for those at the higher end. As such, the uneven declines in the premium across the wage spectrum could account for about 20% of rising wage inequality during this period, suggesting that firms are of great importance to the study of rising inequality.Keywords firm-size wage premium, inequality, internal labor market, employment relationship Disciplines Management Sciences and Quantitative MethodsThis journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons:

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences

Cobb

Lin

2017

Organization Science

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“…Scale predicts the formalization of many policies (Blau and Schoenherr 1971;Kalleberg and Van Buren 1996). Bigger establishments, and those that are part of larger organizations, should be more likely to formalize harassment programs.…”

Section: Size Age Inertiamentioning

confidence: 99%

How to Stop Harassment: Professional Construction of Legal Compliance in Organizations

Dobbin

Kelly

2007

American Journal of Sociology

223

183

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Employment relations in Norway: some dimensions and correlates

Kalleberg

Rognes

2000

J. Organiz. Behav.

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SummaryThis article draws upon psychological, sociological, and economic theories of employment relations to examine ®ve dimensions of employment conditions (information, compensation, time frame, investment, and change) in Norway. Each of these dimensions is conceptualized as a continuum anchored by relational exchange on one side and transactional exchange on the other. Using data from nationally representative surveys of Norwegian work organizations and their employees, we ®rst develop measures of the ®ve dimensions of employment relations and test several hypotheses about their antecedents. We ®nd that full-time employees in supervisory positions and in higher prestige occupations generally have employment conditions that have more relational aspects. In addition, we ®nd that degree of relationalism tends to be greater in organizations that have ®rm internal labour markets and encourage personal development. We then examine some individual-level consequences of relationalism, and ®nd that persons with relational employment conditions are generally more committed to their organizations, somewhat less likely to leave them, and more satis®ed with their jobs.

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Is Bigger Better? Explaining the Relationship Between Organization Size and Job Rewards

Cited by 200 publications

References 20 publications

Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences

Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences

How to Stop Harassment: Professional Construction of Legal Compliance in Organizations

Employment relations in Norway: some dimensions and correlates

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