Bargaining regimes, variable pay and financial participation: some survey evidence on pay determination

Abstract

This exploratory paper provides preliminary evidence on the distribution of various forms of variable pay-by-pay determination structure. Data is drawn from the CRANET survey of company human resource practices, and is used for 13 countries. These countries are divided into two regimes, those where pay determination is predominantly centralized and those where it is generally decentralized. The use of variable pay is compared between the two. The results are consistent with both institutional and resource-based perspectives.

Keywords:

• collective bargaining
• financial participation
• pay determination
• profit-sharing
• variable pay

Acknowledgments

We thank the partners of the CRANET network for providing the data and Cranfield University, School of Management for coordinating the network. This paper has been presented at the International Industrial Relations Association Regional Congress in Manchester, UK, and at the International Association for the Economics of Participation conference held at Hamilton College, USA. We thank the participants for their comments and criticisms.