KLI Employment & Labor Brief

Impact of the Psychological Characteristics of CEOs on the Wage System for Employees

- This research explored the impact of the transpersonal characteristics of CEOs on the wage system for employees against the backdrop of the Korean situation, in which relatively stable wage system is being increasingly deinstitutionalized.

- The psychological characteristics of CEOs were measured with the Q-sort method using documented media interviews for an empirical study of 71 companies.

- Results revealed that CEOs who prioritized the interests of others have a higher possibility of maintaining stable methods (in other words, seniority-based system) for increasing the base wage of employees even amidst changes in the institutional environment which do not match their psychological characteristics.  On the other hand, the transpersonal characteristics of CEOs did not impact the wage level of employees.