A new GLO Discussion Paper for China finds that labor scarcity encourages firms to adopt more incentive pay which leads to higher firm productivity and reduces misallocation of labor.

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GLO Discussion Paper No. 479, 2020

Incentive Pay and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China – Download PDF
by Jin, Zhangfeng & Pan, Shiyuan

GLO Fellow Zhangfeng Jin

Author Abstract: This study examines the causes and consequences of incentive pay adoption among Chinese manufacturing firms. First, we find that a higher degree of labor scarcity encourages firms to adopt more incentive pay. Second, using an instrumental variables approach, we find that a 10 percentage point increase in the intensity of incentive pay results in 38% higher firm productivity. Third, the average productivity differences between SOEs and non-SOEs decrease by about 65% after controlling differences in incentive pay adoption. Therefore, facilitating incentive pay adoption among firms with better labor endowments (e.g. SOEs) increases productivity while reduces resource misallocation in developing countries.

GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS,  EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs – downloadable for free.

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