There is no rational reason but that's exactly the point. People are irrational when it comes to judging how much they think they or their colleagues should be

There is no rational reason but that's exactly the point. People are irrational when it comes to judging how much they think they or their colleagues should be paid. Most people think they deserve or at least try to get paid better than the average of their colleagues. Salaries should either be totally opaque or totally transparent. You don't want the situation where the politics of compensation damages a company as noted in this recent HN article: http://bhorowitz.com/2010/08/23/how-to-minimize-politics-in-your-company/ http://bhorowitz.com/2010/08/23/how-to-minimize-politics-in-...