Deferred Compensation

What happens when deferred compensation breaks under the pressure of low early productivity and high workforce mobility

For much of the 20th century, the relationship between employer and employee rested on an unwritten contract. Work hard, stay loyal, and in time, you will be rewarded. That reward wasn’t necessarily tied to what you produced at any given moment. Instead, it was structured around a concept economists call deferred compensation.

In this model, younger work…