Perceived Fairness of Pay: The Importance of Task versus Maintenance Inputs in Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong.

24 Pages Posted: 20 Jul 2015 Last revised: 17 Sep 2015

See all articles by Tae-Yeol Kim

Tae-Yeol Kim

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS)

Todd Weber

University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Kwok Leung

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Department of Management Sciences

Yukiko Muramoto

Yokohama National University

Date Written: February 1, 2010

Abstract

This study compares East Asians' evaluations of task and maintenance inputs in reward allocation decisions and examines the effects that inequity in various types of inputs and rewards have on fairness judgements. Based on a sample of 587 employees from various organizations in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea, we find that Hong Kong Chinese and South Korean employees are more likely to want their organizations and supervisors to emphasize maintenance inputs, while Japanese employees value task inputs in reward allocation. Results also show that there are significant country differences in fairness judgements associated with various types of inputs. For example, the positive relationship between pay level and perceived fairness of pay is significantly stronger when task contributions are high rather than low among Japanese employees but not among Hong Kong and South Korean employees. The concept of independent self-construal (similar to individualism at the societal level) seems to provide an adequate account of the country differences in choice of input preferences but not fairness judgements.

Keywords: cross-cultural comparison, East Asian differences, fairness judgements, organizational justice, reward allocation

Suggested Citation

Kim, Tae-Yeol and Weber, Todd and Leung, Kwok and Muramoto, Yukiko, Perceived Fairness of Pay: The Importance of Task versus Maintenance Inputs in Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. (February 1, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2633061 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2633061

Tae-Yeol Kim (Contact Author)

China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) ( email )

Shanghai-Hongfeng Road
Shanghai 201206
Shanghai 201206
China

Todd Weber

University of Nebraska at Lincoln ( email )

Lincoln, NE 68588
United States

Kwok Leung

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Department of Management Sciences ( email )

Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon
Hong Kong
852-2788-8985 (Phone)
852-2788-8960 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.cityu.edu.hk

Yukiko Muramoto

Yokohama National University ( email )

Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-Ku, Yokohama
Yokohama, Kanagawa
Japan

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