This post might be better without the mathematical abstraction.
> An employer wants to pay their employee as little as they can get away with, as long as it is less then the value that employee provides. Presumably, this company set such salaries.
> However, there are things that the formula doesn't take into account - they lose the ability to screw bad negotiators and convicts out of money.
> Similarly, if people are offered higher salaries elsewhere, it might be worth it for the company to counter-offer with something still less then the employees value to them to keep that employee, but they don't want to do the same for everyone.
> An employer wants to pay their employee as little as they can get away with, as long as it is less then the value that employee provides. Presumably, this company set such salaries.
> However, there are things that the formula doesn't take into account - they lose the ability to screw bad negotiators and convicts out of money.
> Similarly, if people are offered higher salaries elsewhere, it might be worth it for the company to counter-offer with something still less then the employees value to them to keep that employee, but they don't want to do the same for everyone.