Reciprocity in Dynamic Employment Relationships

Reciprocity in Labor Relationships

The fair employment hypothesis: Reciprocity in unstable environments∗

We extend the well-known fair wage-effort hypothesis to situations in which firms suffer from negative productivity shocks and test experimentally whether a fair employment hypothesis exists. The fair employment hypothesis stipulates that firms employ workers even if it is not profitable for them in the short run (after a negative productivity shock) in order to induce reciprocal behavior. Our ...

I-deals: Idiosyncratic Terms in Employment Relationships

When individual workers negotiate employment terms that differ from those of coworkers, these idiosyncratic arrangements or ideals may benefit both the individual worker and employer, but coworkers may respond negatively unless certain conditions apply. We distinguish functional idiosyncratic arrangements from their dysfunctional counterparts, and develop propositions specifying how ideals are ...

Joint Employers Status in Triangular Employment Relationships

The article focuses on the question of who should be considered the legal employer in triangular employment relationships. It is argued that outsourcing of employer responsibilities to temporary work agencies is illegitimate with regard to long-term employees and must be curtailed. It is further argued that even in the case of short-term (“traditional”) employment through agencies, there is rea...

Reciprocity in Manager-Subordinate Relationships: Components, Configurations, and Outcomes

The present study examines both positive and negative norms of reciprocity in managerial work relationships by assessing three components of reciprocal behavior: immediacy, equivalence, and interest motive. The findings show that subordinate reports of immediacy, equivalence, and self-interest were negatively associated, and mutual-interest was positively associated, with relationship quality a...