The Relative Effects of Merit Pay, Bonuses, and Long-Term Incentives on Future Job Performance (CRI 2009-009)

Extant compensation literature has indicated that pay-for-performance can influence employee performance. There is little research, however, that differentiates the effects of certain forms of pay-for-performance plans on future performance. By applying the precepts of expectancy theory to specific components of the pay-for-performance plans and using longitudinal data from a sample of 739 US employees in a service-related organization, this study demonstrates different effects for merit pay, bonuses, and long-term incentives

Local Revenue Structure Under Economic Hardship: Reliance on Alternative Revenue Sources in California Counties

This article investigates how a worsening economy affects local revenue structure, and whether the impact is moderated by the fiscal relationship within higher levels of government. The revenue potential of nontax sources—fees/charges and fines/forfeitures—is considerable for local governments under economic hardship. With the panel data from California counties over a period of 11 years (2000-2010), this article shows that reliance on nontax revenue largely depends on the economic and fiscal factors that vary across counties, and the effect of economy is contingent on local dependence on intergovernmental transfers. Counties are likely to raise nontax revenue when the economy worsens and their transfer-dependence increases, while the marginal effect of the economic indicators changes from negative to positive as transfer-dependence increases. This article illuminates the characteristics of the two types of nontax sources in terms of the mechanisms of incentivizing human behavior, and concludes with policy implications for researchers and practitioners

The Changing Relationship between Supervisors and Subordinates: How Managing This Relationship Evolves over Time

Understanding how the relationship between a subordinate and manager develops over time has been a critical matter both for academics and for business. In both academic journals and industry publications, some writers have argued that the relationship is driven by perceptions of fairness and treatment, and that developing the relationship can lead to better performance. Others have argued that higher performers get better treatment and resources, which results in superior relationships with their managers. There is really no clear answer of what comes first—perceptions of fairness, satisfaction with the supervisor, or job performance—and which leads to which

Evaluating Form and Functionality of Pay-For-Performance Plans: The Relative Incentive and Sorting Effects of Merit Pay, Bonuses, and Long-Term Incentives

Using two-year longitudinal data from a large sample of US employees from a service-related organization, the present study investigates the relative effects of three forms of pay-for-performance plans on employees’ job performance (incentive effects) and voluntary turnover (sorting effects). The study differentiates between three forms of pay: merit pay, individual-based bonuses, and long-term incentives. By definition, these PFP plans have different structural elements that distinguish them from each other (i.e., pay plan form) and different characteristics (functionality), such as the degree to which pay and performance are linked and the size of the rewards, which can vary both within and across plan types. Our results provide evidence that merit raises have larger incentive and sorting effects than bonuses and long-term incentives in multi-PFP plan environments where the three PFP plans are operating simultaneously. Only merit pay has both incentive and sorting effects among the three PFP plans. The implications for the PFP-related theory, as well as for the design and implementation of PFP plans, are discussed

Resolving Multiple Wh-Fragments in English: A Syntax-Pragmatics Approach

This paper attempts to provide a new analysis of multiple wh-fragments, the so-called multiple sluicing, in English. Against previous approaches which resort to a reconstruction-based resolution or gapping, the proposed analysis captures multiple wh-fragments without positing a copy-deletion mechanism. In fact, multiple wh-fragments are viewed as a root clause whose interpretation can be determined by previous discourse context. This is achieved by suggesting a new type constraint for multiple wh-fragments, based on the analysis of fragment by Bertomeu and Kordoni (2005). (Seoul National University

The Effect of Cost of Living on Employee Wages in the Hospitality Industry

This study examines the effect of cost of living (COL) on employee wages in the hotel industry. Although prior research clearly indicates that COL and wages are positively related, there is a lack of research explicitly considering the specific nature of the relationship between COL and wages, and potential moderators to the relationship. Using a dataset containing information on 97 jobs over 67 cities, our study shows that while there is a positive effect of COL on wages, the adjustment is not equal in magnitude to the difference that the COL levels would indicate. Furthermore, the effect of COL decreases as the average wage for the given job increases. We also show differences in COL’s effects for full-service versus limited-service hotels. We illustrate the implications of our findings by showing predicted wage rates for four jobs in five different cities, at both full-service and limit-service hotels. The study has implications for research, particularly for future work on COL and compensation. The findings also have important implications for practice, and may be particularly useful when managers need to set pay levels when local market data are unavailable

Not Merely a Matter of Drawing Arrows: The Empirical Consequences of Measurement Model Specification and Recommendations for Practice

Understanding measurement model specification is especially important for hospitality research due to its cross-disciplinary nature and the prevalence of measures used in the field which are often central to the formative versus reflective debate (e.g., SERVQUAL, socioeconomic status). The current study contributes to this topic by providing empirically based prescriptive advice to drive better measurement model specification. Specifically, the decision-making procedures developed by this study can complement theoretical reasons for a model choice as well as help determine a correct model choice when theories are equivocal or non-existent. This study combines actual and simulated data to show that model fit statistics alone cannot determine which model specification is correct, but also that a correct measurement model will generate more accurate predictions within a model which in turn will offer more accurate managerial recommendations

Research Design: Understanding Semantic Relationships in Health Question-Answering Behavior in Social Context

This poster introduces a research design focusing on understanding the semantic relationships in socially generated health information in social Q&A. A total of 164,279 questions and 413,900 answers posted during 2013 will be used for text mining and content analysis in this study. This poster explains the process of using the mixed methods for identifying the semantic relationships between major concepts in the questions and the answers.ye

HIV/AIDS Question Analysis with Text Mining: Using Concept Maps for Data Analysis and Interpretation

This poster reports preliminary findings of a work-in progress project focusing on examining questions regarding HIV/AIDS that people generate in social knowledge spaces, social Q&A. A total of 15,574 HIV/AIDS questions out of 74,665 STD questions posted in Yahoo! Answers were randomly selected and analyzed using text mining. Category maps and concept maps that have been used for interpreting the data from text mining are introduced in this poster.ye

Novel involvement of leukotriene B4 receptor 2 through ERK activation by PP2A down-regulation in leukotriene B4-induced keratin phosphorylation and reorganization of pancreatic cancer cells

AbstractPerinuclear reorganization via phosphorylation of specific serine residues in keratin is involved in the deformability of metastatic cancer cells. The level of leukotriene B4 is high in pancreatic cancers. However, the roles of LTB4 and its cognate receptors in keratin reorganization of pancreatic cancers are not known. LTB4 dose-dependently induced phosphorylation and reorganization of Keratin 8 (K8) and these processes were reversed by LY255283 (BLT2 antagonist). BLT2 agonists such as Comp A and 15(S)-HETE also induced phosphorylation of serine 431 in K8. Moreover, Comp A-induced K8 phosphorylation and reorganization were blocked by LY255283. Gene silencing of BLT2 suppressed Comp A-induced K8 phosphorylation and reorganization in PANC-1 cells. Over-expression of BLT2 promoted K8 phosphorylation. Comp A promoted the migration of PANC-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner, and LY255283 blocked Comp A-induced migration, respectively. PD98059 (ERK inhibitor) suppressed Comp A-induced phosphorylation of serine 431 and reorganization of K8. Gene silencing of BLT2 suppressed the expression of pERK, and over-expression of BLT2 increased the expression of pERK even without Comp A. Comp A induced the expression of active ERK (pERK) and BLT2. These inductions were blocked by PD98059. Comp A decreased PP2A expression and hindered the binding of PP2A to the K8, leading to the activation of ERK. PD98059 suppressed the Comp A-induced migration of PANC-1 cells and BLT2 over-expression-induced migration of PANC-1 cells. Overall, these results suggest that BLT2 is involved in LTB4‐induced phosphorylation and reorganization through ERK activation by PP2A downregulation, leading to increased migration of PANC‐1 cells