You're Paid What You're Worth: And Other Myths of the Modern Economy

The book "You're Paid What You're Worth" challenges the idea that pay is determined by objective criteria and places power and social conflict at the heart of economic analysis. It argues that judgments of productivity and value are highly subjective and that power, inertia, mimicry, and demands for equity play a paramount role in determining pay.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 384 pages
\n Publication date: 16 February 2021
\n Publisher: Harvard University Press
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A myth-busting book challenges the notion that we are paid according to objective criteria, instead placing power and social conflict at the heart of economic analysis. While it is true that job performance and occupational characteristics do play a role in determining pay, judgments of productivity and value are also highly subjective. What makes a lawyer more valuable than a teacher? How do you measure the output of a police officer, a professor, or a reporter? Why, in the past few decades, did CEOs suddenly become hundreds of times more valuable than their employees? The answers to these questions lie not in objective criteria but in battles over interests and ideals.

In this book, Jake Rosenfeld explores four dynamics that are paramount in determining pay: power, inertia, mimicry, and demands for equity. Power struggles legitimize pay for particular jobs, and organizational inertia makes that pay seem natural. Mimicry encourages employers to do what peers are doing, and workers are on the lookout for practices that seem unfair. Rosenfeld uses cutting-edge economics, original survey data, and a journalistic eye for compelling stories to illustrate how these dynamics play out in real-world settings.

At a time when unions and bargaining power are declining and inequality is rising, "You're Paid What You're Worth" is a crucial resource for understanding that most basic of social questions: Who gets what and why? This book provides a powerful analysis of the forces that shape our economic system and offers insights into how we can create a more equitable and just society.

\n Weight: 540g\n
Dimension: 149 x 218 x 35 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780674916593\n \n