'It's the value that we bring': performance pay and top income earners' perceptions of inequality. (25th October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hecht, Katharina
• Is Part Of: Socio-economic review. Volume 20:Number 4(2022)
• Page Start: 1741
• Page End: 1766
• Publication Date: 2021-10-25
• Subjects: financial services -- elites -- income distribution -- inequality -- meritocracy -- perceptions; Z13 social and economic stratification -- D31 personal income -- wealth -- and their distributions -- D63 equity -- justice -- inequality -- and other normative criteria and measurement; Economics -- Sociological aspects -- Periodicals; 306.305
• DOI: 10.1093/ser/mwab044
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1475-1461

Abstract

Abstract: Though the literature on perceptions of inequality and studies of 'elites' have identified the importance of meritocratic beliefs in legitimating inequality, little is known about the role of pay setting processes in sustaining ideals of meritocracy. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with UK-based top income earners working mainly in finance, I analyse how top income earners perceive economic inequality. My study highlights the crucial role of performance pay for perceptions that top incomes are meritocratically deserved. Participants expressed the view that performance pay, an increasingly prevalent pay-setting practice, ensures that top incomes reflect a share of economic 'value created' for shareholders, clients or investors. Focusing on narrow, economic criteria of evaluation perceived as objective, the majority of respondents ('performance pay meritocrats') justified any income difference as deserved if it reflects economic contribution. Meanwhile, a minority of respondents ('social reflexivists') applied broader evaluative criteria including distributive justice and social contributions.