Han Fei, Jiang Yong, Sun Yanhan
School of accounting, Shandong Management University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
School of Business and Administration, Shandong University of Finance and Economics; School of accounting, Shandong Management University. Erhuan east road, Lixia District, Jinan, Shandong, China.
PLoS One. 2025 May 27;20(5):e0324031. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0324031. eCollection 2025.
The pronounced pay gap prevalent in companies has raised critical concerns regarding organizational equity. This study investigates mechanisms to mitigate pay gap through the lens of management compliance attention, with the dual objectives of enhancing intra-firm distributive justice and fostering sustainable organizational development. Furthermore, this study employs a comprehensive methodology, including textual analysis of annual reports to construct management compliance attention variables and the Chinese Huazheng ESG rating system to measure social performance. The results show that:(1) Management compliance attention is negatively correlated with pay gap(β = -0.010,p < 0.01); (2) Social performance is negatively correlated with pay gap(β = -0.035,p < 0.01); (3) Social performance strengthens the negative effect of management compliance attention on pay gap(β = -0.022,p < 0.05). Based on the results, we find that management compliance attention and social performance can narrow pay gap respectively, and that social performance positively moderates the relationship between compliance attention and pay gap. In addition, organizational resilience is identified as a partial mediator, explaining how compliance attention enhances firms' ability to adapt to external changes, thereby reducing pay gap. Heterogeneity analysis shows that management compliance attention and social performance effectively narrow pay gap in state-owned shareholding companies, and widen pay gap in private shareholding companies. This study contributes to the literature on the economic consequences of corporate compliance and social performance and the determinants of pay gap. Practical implications involve recommendations for firms to strengthen corporate compliance systems, enhance social performance and organizational resilience, and establish transparent compensation frameworks.
公司中普遍存在的明显薪酬差距引发了对组织公平性的严重关切。本研究从管理合规关注的角度调查缓解薪酬差距的机制，旨在实现增强企业内部分配正义和促进组织可持续发展这两个双重目标。此外，本研究采用了综合方法，包括对年度报告进行文本分析以构建管理合规关注变量，并运用中国华证ESG评级体系来衡量社会绩效。结果表明：（1）管理合规关注与薪酬差距呈负相关（β = -0.010，p < 0.01）；（2）社会绩效与薪酬差距呈负相关（β = -0.035，p < 0.01）；（3）社会绩效强化了管理合规关注对薪酬差距的负向影响（β = -0.022，p < 0.05）。基于这些结果，我们发现管理合规关注和社会绩效能够分别缩小薪酬差距，且社会绩效正向调节合规关注与薪酬差距之间的关系。此外，组织韧性被确定为部分中介变量，解释了合规关注如何增强企业适应外部变化的能力，从而缩小薪酬差距。异质性分析表明，管理合规关注和社会绩效在国有控股公司中有效缩小了薪酬差距，而在民营控股公司中则扩大了薪酬差距。本研究为有关企业合规和社会绩效的经济后果以及薪酬差距决定因素的文献做出了贡献。实际意义包括建议企业加强公司合规体系、提升社会绩效和组织韧性，并建立透明的薪酬框架。
