Do They Mind the Gap? The Role of Founders in Organizational Pay Dispersion
Journal
Business & Society
ISSN
0007-6503
1552-4205
Date Issued
2023
Author(s)
Type
Resource Types::text::journal::journal article
URL Institutional Repository
Abstract
<jats:p> This study adds to the emergent stream of work examining the micro-level antecedents of pay dispersion by focusing on how business founders’ personal characteristics influence pay dispersion in their organizations. We leverage stakeholder theory and the motivated information processing perspective to predict pathways between founders’ self- versus other-oriented motivations, their perceptions of employee and shareholder salience, and pay dispersion in their organizations. We test our hypotheses on data from a two-wave survey of founders. We find that a high level of motivation to benefit others on the part of a founder reduces the salience of shareholder concerns in decision-making, which in turn reduces pay dispersion. In contrast, a high level of motivation to benefit oneself heightens the salience of shareholder concerns in decision-making, increasing pay dispersion. Our results inform the debate on pay dispersion by elucidating the role played by founders’ self- versus other-oriented motivations and stakeholder salience perceptions. </jats:p>
Cite this document
Chliova, M., Cacciotti, G., & Kautonen, T. (2024). Do they mind the gap? The role of founders in organizational pay dispersion. Business & Society, 63(2), 415-451. https://doi.org/10.1177/00076503231163546
Subjects
motivated information processing
;
other-oriented motivation
;
pay dispersion
;
self-oriented motivation
;
stakeholder salience
;
stakeholder theory