The Prevalence of Performance-Related Pay: A 23 Country Examination

Abstract

This study intends to determine the current situation regarding the prevalence of pay for performance systems established for managers. Examining performance-related pay, we focus on individual, team and organizational performance and explore how widespread several pay components are in 23 countries. The research consists of the firm-level data of 5217 large companies from 23 countries from the Cranfield Network on Comparative Human Resource Management database. The data has been presented descriptively via frequencies and percentages and then analyzed via cluster analysis. In this way, diverging country clusters have been determined regarding the prevalence of pay for performance. Findings show that individual bonus is the most frequently used variable pay component provided to managers in general. Following that, paying for organizational performance is highly prevalent, whereas team-based bonuses are rarely used as a whole. On the other hand, long term incentives are rarely used except profit sharing. The results are descriptive in nature. This study addresses how widespread performance-related pay in various countries. Evidence regarding the use and prevalence of pay for performance systems across countries is quite limited. So this research, reflecting the current scene regarding variable pay in various countries, contributes to current literature by presenting recent comparable data.