Profit-Sharing, Employment Stability, and Wage Growth

Abstract

The authors conjecture that profit-sharing reduces turnover and thus increases expected returns to firm-specific human capital investments, so that the optimal levels of skill acquisition and investment in firm-specific skills rise and ultimately increase productivity. Empirical evidence from NLSY data on white men in nonunion jobs between 1988 and 1994 supports this hypothesis. Employees participating in profit-sharing plans were less likely than non-participants to separate from their jobs. They also received training more frequently and for longer durations. Finally, the authors show that profit-sharing was related to higher wage growth, indicating a faster rate of skill accumulation.