Management Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
8-2015
Publication Source
Strategic Management Journal
Volume
36
Issue
8
Start Page
1164
Last Page
1173
DOI
10.1002/smj.2272
Abstract
How does employer status benefit firms in the market for general human capital? On the one hand, high status employers are better able to attract workers, who value the signal of ability that employment at those firms provides. On the other hand, that same signal can help workers bid up wages and capture the value of employers' status. Exploring this tension, we argue that high status firms are able to hire higher ability workers than other firms, and do not need to pay them the full value of their ability early in the career, but must raise wages more rapidly than other firms as those workers accrue experience. We test our arguments using unique survey data on careers in investment banking.
Copyright/Permission Statement
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Matthew Bidwell, Shinjae Won, Roxana Barbulescu & Ethan Mollick (2015), "I Used to Work at Goldman Sachs! How Firms Benefit From Organizational Status in the Market for Human Capital", which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.2272. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving [http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-820227.html#terms].
Recommended Citation
Bidwell, M. J., Won, S., Barbulescu, R., & Mollick, E. (2015). I Used to Work at Goldman Sachs! How Firms Benefit From Organizational Status in the Market for Human Capital. Strategic Management Journal, 36 (8), 1164-1173. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.2272
Date Posted: 19 February 2018
This document has been peer reviewed.