4 ms·

How strongly is pay linked to productivity? Nice gals finish last?

3 points by cwan 17y ago

jdminhbg 17y ago
I wonder what the pay gap would be like if you added in zeroes for all the unemployed men in this recession: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2009/05/number_of_worki.html http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/arch... Returning to the piece at hand, this quote really bugs me: "But one could also argue that pay differences among all individuals — as well as gaps between men and women — reflect differences in personality, preferences and principles as much as productivity. If this true, then policies like executive pay restrictions and higher marginal tax rates would not necessarily lower productive contributions." How did she go from "maybe those factors are as big as productivity" to "therefore there won't be any effect on productivity" in consecutive sentences? There are some interesting links in the article, but a ton of shoddy thinking in and around them.
jchonphoenix 17y ago
This article isn't based on any grounded research or survey. It is basically a collection of what the author feels is happening in the current day with random selective citations from other articles written by other authors touting their own opinions. If you're going to write about your personal opinions, don't pretend you are knowledgeable and speak as if you are talking about facts. We have enough articles in the every day media that pretty much have "citation needed" written all over them. We don't need them on hacker news.
- noelchurchill 17y ago
  The basis of the article is that "machiavellians" who are more likely to cheat and lie are also more likely to succeed. If you believe these then maybe you don't feel the need for citations.
noelchurchill 17y ago
This struck me: But one could also argue that pay differences among all individuals — as well as gaps between men and women — reflect differences in personality, preferences and principles as much as productivity. If this true, then policies like executive pay restrictions and higher marginal tax rates would not necessarily lower productive contributions. They might even discourage selfish opportunism that can be counterproductive to society.

3 points by cwan 17y ago

I wonder what the pay gap would be like if you added in zeroes for all the unemployed men in this recession: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2009/05/number_of_worki.html http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/arch... Returning to the piece at hand, this quote really bugs me: "But one could also argue that pay differences among all individuals — as well as gaps between men and women — reflect differences in personality, preferences and principles as much as productivity. If this true, then policies like executive pay restrictions and higher marginal tax rates would not necessarily lower productive contributions." How did she go from "maybe those factors are as big as productivity" to "therefore there won't be any effect on productivity" in consecutive sentences? There are some interesting links in the article, but a ton of shoddy thinking in and around them.

jchonphoenix 17y ago

This article isn't based on any grounded research or survey. It is basically a collection of what the author feels is happening in the current day with random selective citations from other articles written by other authors touting their own opinions. If you're going to write about your personal opinions, don't pretend you are knowledgeable and speak as if you are talking about facts. We have enough articles in the every day media that pretty much have "citation needed" written all over them. We don't need them on hacker news.

noelchurchill 17y ago
The basis of the article is that "machiavellians" who are more likely to cheat and lie are also more likely to succeed. If you believe these then maybe you don't feel the need for citations.

noelchurchill 17y ago

This struck me: But one could also argue that pay differences among all individuals — as well as gaps between men and women — reflect differences in personality, preferences and principles as much as productivity. If this true, then policies like executive pay restrictions and higher marginal tax rates would not necessarily lower productive contributions. They might even discourage selfish opportunism that can be counterproductive to society.