When is Employee Retaliation Acceptable at Work? Evidence from Quasi- Experiments

Abstract:     
When is sabotage acceptable? We use a quasi-experimental design to study the acceptability of several forms of rule-breaking at work. In addition to hypotheses from theories of fairness, we find retaliation is perceived as more acceptable if it is an act of omission instead of an act commission and if it is in the same "domain" as the employer's bad act. Pilfering goods and services is more acceptable than taking money, while damaging property is least acceptable. Respondents who are older, female, politically conservative, and managers typically show less tolerance for acts of sabotage, while union members are union members a bit more accepting than average.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 41

Keywords: Perceived fairness, Sabotage, Retaliation, Omission, Commission, Domains of reciprocity, Labor relations

JEL Classification: A13, B49, J28, J39, J50

working papers series