[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-325470-105":59,"doc-detail-325470-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","wage-and-employer-changes-over-the-life-cycle","Wage and Employer Changes Over the Life Cycle","","Discusses why workers often accept lower wages when changing employers, arguing that wage declines can be voluntary and consistent with better long-run outcomes. Presents job choice as depending not only on pay but also on non-wage job characteristics, or “amenities,” such as work environment and status. Explains the compensating differentials mechanism: wages adjust to offset differences in amenities, implying that quality of life trends cannot be inferred from wages alone.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/wage-and-employer-changes-over-the-life-cycle/325470/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/wage-and-employer-changes-over-the-life-cycle/325470.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Aria","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-13","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",15,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"Why do some people accept lower wages when switching employers?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"They may prefer a new job because it offers better future wage prospects or superior non-wage characteristics, making the overall choice better for them.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"What are “amenities” in the context of job choice?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"Amenities are non-wage job attributes such as the work environment or the job’s cachet that workers value alongside wages.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"How do compensating differentials relate wages to job characteristics?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"Compensating differentials mean wages move to offset differences in job amenities, so jobs can remain equally attractive even when pay differs.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},325470,1790196144,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},2336464648322,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2200025388227c56fec?_k=1778556882303663488","by Peter Rupert  \nWhen people change employers,they often take a pay cut.It shouldcome as no surprise that most peoplewould prefer not to reduce their wageswhen they change jobs,but sometimesthey have no choice.If someone is firedand forced to seek a new employer,forexample,a wage decline might reflectthe worker's poor performance and dis-missal from the previous job.To theextent that potential new jobs requirereferences from previous jobs,wages inthe new job may be lower.  \nBut many of those switching to lower-paying jobs appear to accept the lowerwage voluntarily.One reason a personmight do so is that the new job offersthe possibility of higher wages in thefuture compared to the old job.Wagesat the old firm may be close to the high-est wage payable there,and the onlyway to achieve continued wage growthis to switch employers.This explana-tion has been the dominant one ineconomics for some time,and it isstill widely accepted(a recent study byPostel-Vinay and Robin is an example).  \nThis Economie Commentary advancesanother explanation:Job choice isbased not just on wages,but also on thenon-wage characteristics(or “ameni-ties\")desired by the worker,such as thework environment or the job's cachet.A wage decline may represent the factthat the amenities of the new job aregreater for the worker than those of theold job.In this view,a decline in wagesand the choice of new job character-istics are part of an individual's opti-mal lifetime consumption profile.Thismeans that the individual,armed withknowledge of wages and amenities atvarious jobs,begins his or her workinglife by mapping out a career path that  \n# Wage and Employer ChangesOver the Life Cycle\n\nwill generate the highest level of satis-faction.Of course,everyone would pre-fer to have a job with both high wagesand high amenities.But since that com-bination is not available at a every job,people do the next best thing—theychoose high wage/low amenity jobssometimes and low wage/high amenityjobs at others.  \nAnother way of looking at the fact thatjobs are evaluated in terms of bothwages and amenities is to say thatwages and amenities trade off in set-ting the value of the job to a worker,that is,wages are affected byjob ame-nities.That wages are affected by jobamenities is referred to in economics ascompensating differentials.The namerefers to the idea that if lower wagesare observed for some job,there willbe some non-wage characteristic,suchas better working conditions,that com-pensates for the lower wage,therebymaking the jobs equally attractive.  \nThe realization that compensating dif-ferentials are a factor in job choiceshas important implications for assess-ing whether people's quality of life hasimproved over time.Wages are oftenused as a measure of an individual'sstandard of living.But now we seewhy this might be misleading.For eventhough people move from a higher-wage job to a lower-wage job,it doesnot mean they have been made worseoff as a result.The fact that peoplemake the change willingly implies thatsuch moves make them better off.  \nA recent paper incorporates compen-sating differentials into a dynamic set-ting,in the sense that individuals maychoose different jobs—with differ-ent wage and non-wage characteris-tics—over their lifetime(see Nosal  \nApril 15,2004  \nEconomists have long observed thatwages alone do not fully reflect a job'svalue—job“amenities”also play arole.Recent empirical studies haveconfirmed this observation to be thecase.Researchers are aso finding thatworkers frequently choose to takelower-payingjobs,which suggeststhat not only do workers care aboutthe non-wage characteristics of a job,but also that they will change jobsthroughout their lives to achieve thebest mix of wages and amenities that isright(and obtainable)for them.  \nand Rupert 2003).More specifically,in such a setting workers might movefrom high-paying to low-paying jobs tobe able to consume a higher level of thenon-wage component at some point intheir lives.  \n■ Compensating Differen","cbCaieX724dBgsKa","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaieX724dBgsKa","pdf",1197315,"English","# Wage and Employer Changes Over the Life Cycle\n## Compensating Differentials\n## Implications for Quality of Life","[{\"question\":\"Why do some people accept lower wages when switching employers?\",\"answer\":\"They may prefer a new job because it offers better future wage prospects or superior non-wage characteristics, making the overall choice better for them.\"},{\"question\":\"What are “amenities” in the context of job choice?\",\"answer\":\"Amenities are non-wage job attributes such as the work environment or the job’s cachet that workers value alongside wages.\"},{\"question\":\"How do compensating differentials relate wages to job characteristics?\",\"answer\":\"Compensating differentials mean wages move to offset differences in job amenities, so jobs can remain equally attractive even when pay differs.\"}]","Wage and Employer Changes Over the Life Cycle | PDF",1789970600,13]