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Full-Text Articles in Applied Ethics
What's In A Wage? A New Approach To The Justification Of Pay, Jeffrey Moriarty
What's In A Wage? A New Approach To The Justification Of Pay, Jeffrey Moriarty
Philosophy Faculty Publications
In this address, I distinguish and explore three conceptions of wages. A wage is a reward, given in recognition of the performance of a valued task. It is also an incentive: a way to entice workers to take and keep jobs, and to motivate them to work hard. Finally, a wage is a price of labor, and like all prices, conveys valuable information about relative scarcity. I show that each conception of wages has its own normative logic, or appropriate justification, and these logics can come apart. This explains some of the debate about wages and makes the project of …
Is 'Equal Pay For Equal Work' Merely A Principle Of Nondiscrimination?, Jeffrey Moriarty
Is 'Equal Pay For Equal Work' Merely A Principle Of Nondiscrimination?, Jeffrey Moriarty
Philosophy Faculty Publications
Should people who perform equal work receive equal pay? Most would say ‘yes’, at least insofar as this question is understood to be asking whether employers should be permitted to discriminate against employees on the basis of race or sex. But suppose the employees belong to all of the same traditionally protected groups. Is (what I call) nondiscriminatory unequal pay for equal work wrong? Drawing an analogy with price discrimination, I argue that it is not intrinsically wrong, but it can be deceptive, in which case it is wrong.
Compensation Ethics And Organizational Commitment, Jeffrey Moriarty
Compensation Ethics And Organizational Commitment, Jeffrey Moriarty
Philosophy Faculty Publications
If an employee is committed to his firm – if he is “attached” or “bound” to it – then his firm may be able to obtain a discount on his labor. This paper asks: Is it wrong for firms to do so? If we understand just or fair pay solely in terms of voluntary agreements between employers and employees, the answer seems to be ‘no’. Against this, I argue that, in some cases, it is ‘yes’. In particular, it is wrong for firms to try to obtain discounts on their committed employees’ labor when their employees reasonably expect that they …
Justice In Compensation: A Defense, Jeffrey Moriarty
Justice In Compensation: A Defense, Jeffrey Moriarty
Philosophy Faculty Publications
Business ethicists have written much about ethical issues in employment. Except for a handful of articles on the very high pay of chief executive officers and the very low pay of workers in overseas sweatshops, however, little has been written about the ethics of compensation. This is prima facie strange. Workers care about their pay, and they think about it in normative terms. This article's purpose is to consider whether business ethicists' neglect of the normative aspects of compensation is justified. I examine several possible justifications for neglecting compensation and show that they fail. What remains is a case for …
Does Distributive Justice Pay? Sternberg’S Compensation Ethics, Jeffrey Moriarty
Does Distributive Justice Pay? Sternberg’S Compensation Ethics, Jeffrey Moriarty
Philosophy Faculty Publications
Compensation has received a great deal of attention from social scientists. Characteristically, they have been concerned with the causes and effects of various compensation schemes. By contrast, few theorists have addressed the normative aspects of compensation. An exception is Elaine Sternberg, who offers in Just Business a comprehensive theory of compensation ethics. This paper critically examines her theory, and argues that the justification she gives for it fails. Its failure is instructive, however. The main argument Sternberg gives for her theory points in the direction of a different one. This, in turns, helps us to see what a justification of …
How Much Compensation Can Ceos Permissibly Accept?, Jeffrey Moriarty
How Much Compensation Can Ceos Permissibly Accept?, Jeffrey Moriarty
Philosophy Faculty Publications
Debates about the ethics of executive compensation are dominated by familiar themes. Many writers consider whether the amount of pay CEOs receive is too large – relative to firm performance, foreign CEO pay, or employee pay. Many others consider whether the process by which CEOs are paid is compromised by weak or self-serving boards of directors. This paper examines the issue from a new perspective. I focus on the duties executives themselves have with respect to their own compensation. I argue that CEOs’ fiduciary duties place a moral limit on how much compensation they can accept, and hence seek in …
Deserving Jobs, Deserving Wages, Jeffrey Moriarty
Deserving Jobs, Deserving Wages, Jeffrey Moriarty
Philosophy Faculty Publications
This chapter applies recent work on desert to two sets of issues in business ethics. The first set of issues concerns who ought to be hired, fired, promoted, and demoted. Call these issues of “job justice.” The second set of issues concerns how much workers, including managers, ought to be paid. Call these issues of “wage justice.” I focus on job and wage justice because considerations of desert play an important, though sometimes tacit, role in discussions of these issues.