Wage dispersion in non-profit organisations: Do volunteers, donations and public subsidies have an impact?

Beschreibung

Little is known about wage formation and the wage structure in non-profit organizations (NPOs). The aim of this paper is to analyse wage dispersion within NPOs. More knowledge about wages and wage dispersion is essential for both nonprofit employers and their employees as these organisations increasingly face competition from for-profit firms. Since wages are one instrument for retaining and motivating employees, better knowledge on the wage structure in the non-profit sector is of growing importance (e.g. Winter-Ebmer & Zweimüller, 1999). So far, research in this area has mainly been undertaken to compare the wage levels in the non-profit sector with the for-profit sector (see e.g. Leete, 2001; Ruhm & Borkoski, 2003; Mocan & Tekin, 2003; Noguchi & Shimizutani, 2007). These comparisons imply that the organisational wage policy is the same for all employees within one organization. However, there might be differences concerning the intra-organisational wage dispersion in NPOs. For the United States Leete found, based on individual data of the year 1990, that the wage dispersion within NPOs is more compressed than within for-profit organisations (Leete, 2000). She argues that wage dispersion is less apparent in NPOs because of a higher intrinsic motivation of nonprofit employees. NPOs rely heavily on their employees - intrinsic motivation and identification with the organisation in order to achieve their organisational goals. Therefore, NPOs try to strengthen intrinsic motivation, adherence to group norms and organisational pride partly through wage equity (Leete, 2000, 428). Our research is concerned with a better understanding of determinants of the wage dispersion within an NPO. How do organisations differ with the non-profit sector? In our analysis, we especially concentrate on the characteristics of NPOs as compared to for-profit organisations.

Zeitraum	9 Juli 2008 → 12 Juli 2008
Ereignistitel	International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) conference: "The Third Sector and Sustainable Social Change: New Frontiers for Research"
Veranstaltungstyp	Keine Angaben
Bekanntheitsgrad	International