公司對員工的薪資調整承諾是否重要？來自員工生產力的證據

Do Companies’Salary Adjustment Commitments to Employees Matter? Evidence from Employees’Productivity

本研究基於2018至2021年手動收集的臺灣數據，探討公司宣布的薪酬調整偏差與員工生產力之間的關係，這是先前文獻中尚未被探討的議題。企業履行薪酬調整承諾是其企業社會責任的重要體現。然而，若企業公佈的實際薪資調整幅度低於其先前公佈的預期薪資調整幅度時，則表示薪資調整幅度小於其對員工最初的承諾（即低於承諾）。實證結果顯示，與預期理論和前景理論一致，薪酬調整低於承諾時，員工生產力會顯著下降；而薪酬調整高於承諾則對員工生產力無顯著影響。此外，若企業頻繁或連續發生低於承諾的情況，員工生產力亦會受到負面影響。在考量敏感性和內生性之後，結果依然成立。本研究強調企業履行對員工承諾之重要性，並指出未能履行承諾將顯著損害員工生產力。本研究結果或可裨益計劃推動ESG相關策略（如員工薪酬和福利）的公司、政策制定者及監管機構具有重要啟示。

Using manually collected Taiwanese data from 2018 to 2021, this study examines the relationship between deviations in company-announced salary adjustments and employee productivity—an area previously unaddressed in the literature. Companies that keep their promised salary adjustments to their employees are ideal examples of fulfilling social responsibilities. However, when companies announce actual salary adjustments that are lower than their previously announced and expected salary adjustments, it indicates that the salary adjustments are less than their original commitments to their employees (i.e., failure to fulfill promises, hereafter under-commitment). Consistent with expectancy theory and prospect theory, empirical results reveal that employee productivity declines when under-commitment salary adjustments occur, whereas no significant effect on employee productivity is observed when over-commitment occurs. Furthermore, when a company exhibits under-commitment more often or sequentially, productivity is negatively affected. These findings still hold after considering sensitivity and endogeneity concerns and suggest that it is very important for companies to keep their promises to employees and that failure to fulfill promises greatly harms employee productivity. Overall, this study’s findings are of interest to companies, policymakers, and regulators planning to promote ESG-related practices and strategies (e.g., employee remuneration and benefits).