Is there a contradiction between exploitation and the idea that CEO pay might be correlated with job performance?
Chris Dillow doesn’t think so.
this finding does not reject the possibility that bosses, in aggregate, are exploiters.
To see what I mean, imagine a feudal society in which lords exploit peasants but claim, in exchange, to offer them protection. In this society, the lord who fails to offer protection might well suffer badly, as rival lords attack his land and rob both him and his peasants, whilst the successful lord who protects his peasants would see his wealth grow as he usurps other lords. There will then be a strong correlation between lords’ performance and reward. But the lord-peasant relation will be exploitative.
A link between individual ability and performance is entirely consistent with an aggregate relationship which is unjust.
