Profit Sharing the Firm-Size Wage Premium

This study analyzes the relationships among wages, firm size, and profit sharing schemes. We develop a simple theoretical model and explore the relationship empirically using high-quality panel data. The theoretical model shows that the firm-size wage premium decreases in the presence of profit sharing. The empirical results based on rich matched employee-employer data for private sector wage earners in Finland show that the firm-size wage premium is modest, and it becomes negligible when we account for profit sharing and covariates describing assortative matching and monopsony behavior. The analysis suggests that profit sharing schemes embody effects of firm-specific unobservables that raise productivity, support rent sharing, and boost wages.