{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/164558"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/164558","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"From Wallets to Wages: Consumer Income, Job Design, and Pay Disparities","abstract":"Pay differences between organizations are a key source of wage inequality. I propose a novel account of these differences by starting from the consumers that these businesses serve. Firms that serve high-income consumers specialize jobs into higher-paying and higher-skilled positions focused on quality, while those that serve lower-income consumers emphasize cost minimization by requiring workers to perform a wider range of general tasks. Matching consumer foot traffic data and establishment-level wage records, I find that establishments serving higher-income consumers pay their workers more. This effect holds comparing among establishments in the same neighborhoods and industries. Longitudinally, establishments increase wages when they shift toward higher-income customers. Analysis of online job postings further reveals that jobs at higher-income-serving firms involve a narrower set of tasks that command higher market value. These findings show how consumer markets shape firms’ internal job design and contribute to pay inequality across organizations.","abstract_html":"Pay differences between organizations are a key source of wage inequality. I propose a novel account of these differences by starting from the consumers that these businesses serve. Firms that serve high-income consumers specialize jobs into higher-paying and higher-skilled positions focused on quality, while those that serve lower-income consumers emphasize cost minimization by requiring workers to perform a wider range of general tasks. Matching consumer foot traffic data and establishment-level wage records, I find that establishments serving higher-income consumers pay their workers more. This effect holds comparing among establishments in the same neighborhoods and industries. Longitudinally, establishments increase wages when they shift toward higher-income customers. Analysis of online job postings further reveals that jobs at higher-income-serving firms involve a narrower set of tasks that command higher market value. These findings show how consumer markets shape firms’ internal job design and contribute to pay inequality across organizations.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Roh, Soohyun"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Master","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Sloan School of Management","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Wilmers, Nathan"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-09","date_published":"2025-09","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:51Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright retained by author(s)"],"rights_urls":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/164558","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Wilmers, Nathan"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Sloan School of Management"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Roh, Soohyun"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2026-01-20T19:45:11Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2026-01-20T19:45:11Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2025-09"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master","Master of Science in Management Research"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright retained by author(s)"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/164558"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Pay differences between organizations are a key source of wage inequality. I propose a novel account of these differences by starting from the consumers that these businesses serve. Firms that serve high-income consumers specialize jobs into higher-paying and higher-skilled positions focused on quality, while those that serve lower-income consumers emphasize cost minimization by requiring workers to perform a wider range of general tasks. Matching consumer foot traffic data and establishment-level wage records, I find that establishments serving higher-income consumers pay their workers more. This effect holds comparing among establishments in the same neighborhoods and industries. Longitudinally, establishments increase wages when they shift toward higher-income customers. Analysis of online job postings further reveals that jobs at higher-income-serving firms involve a narrower set of tasks that command higher market value. These findings show how consumer markets shape firms’ internal job design and contribute to pay inequality across organizations."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.M."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["From Wallets to Wages: Consumer Income, Job Design, and Pay Disparities"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Wilmers, Nathan"],"dc:contributor.department":["Sloan School of Management"],"dc:creator":["Roh, Soohyun"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2026-01-20T19:45:11Z"],"dc:date.available":["2026-01-20T19:45:11Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2025-09"],"dc:description.abstract":["Pay differences between organizations are a key source of wage inequality. I propose a novel account of these differences by starting from the consumers that these businesses serve. Firms that serve high-income consumers specialize jobs into higher-paying and higher-skilled positions focused on quality, while those that serve lower-income consumers emphasize cost minimization by requiring workers to perform a wider range of general tasks. Matching consumer foot traffic data and establishment-level wage records, I find that establishments serving higher-income consumers pay their workers more. This effect holds comparing among establishments in the same neighborhoods and industries. Longitudinally, establishments increase wages when they shift toward higher-income customers. Analysis of online job postings further reveals that jobs at higher-income-serving firms involve a narrower set of tasks that command higher market value. 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