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How informed are people about the wage gap between those at the top and those at the lower end of the wage distribution? We analyse this question in the light of the debate that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic about the importance of essential frontline workers and how these are paid compared to other occupations.

The study uses wage data for managers in private and public enterprises in Norway in addition to data on wages for two groups of essential frontline workers: cleaning operatives and nurses. We compared this data with what a sample of Norwegians believe the different occupational groups earn and what they think they ideally should earn.

Respondents overestimate the wages of cleaners and nurses, and they think that both groups should be paid more than they actually earn. Respondents also report ideal wage gaps between managers and essential workers that are significantly smaller than the actual wage gap.

Previous research shows that people on average underestimate actual wage gaps in society and that most people want wage gaps that are far lower than these underestimates. This study adds to this literature by looking at what people know about the pay conditions of essential frontline workers and what they think essential frontline workers ideally should be paid compared to other types of work.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-03-2024-0222

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of why people act trustworthily in anonymous non-repeated meetings where trustworthiness benefits the trustor and runs against the trustee’s material self-interest.

The paper uses a survey originally developed by Bicchieri et al. (2011). The survey makes it possible to explore whether trustworthiness has a normative element. Is there a norm of trustworthiness that inflicts punishment for disobedience?

The participants in the experiment strongly believe that most people will punish untrustworthy behavior, lending support to the idea that trustworthiness is norm driven. The data provide little evidence for a parallel norm of trust.

The theory of repeated games explains how trust can emerge among players in ongoing interactions. But why do people choose to trust others who they do not know in non-ongoing interactions? The results offer an explanation. When trustors are aware that trustworthiness is rooted in norms, they have reason to expect trustees to act trustworthily. Then, it makes sense to trust since trustors will benefit from their trusting.