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The Incentives Lab
HBT-INC-0279 · Dimension INC · Incentives

Two-Tier Compensation Quiet Quitting

New hires paid more than tenure; tenure responds rationally.

Universal Pattern Perverse Pattern·Perverse Incentive·Grade C·draft· enriching…

Scientific Definition

New hires paid more than tenure; tenure responds rationally.

Plain-English Definition

New hires paid more than tenure; tenure responds rationally.

Feynman Explanation

Loyalty taxes are still taxes.

Core Principle

New hires paid more than tenure; tenure responds rationally.

Mechanisms

Psychological

Pending editorial review.

Behavioral Economic

New hires paid more than tenure; tenure responds rationally.

Neurological

Pending editorial review.

Evolutionary

Pending editorial review.

Sociological

Quiet attrition driven by compensation asymmetry.

Computational

Pending editorial review.

Systems

Pending editorial review.

Inputs (Triggers)

Pending editorial review.

Outputs (Behaviors)

Pending editorial review.

Behavioral Signature

Loyalty taxes are still taxes.

Examples

Everyday
  • Salary compression across many sectors.
Modern (Organizational)
  • Quiet attrition driven by compensation asymmetry.
Historical

Pending editorial review.

Famous Experiments

Pending editorial review.

Design Principles

  • Annual market-rate calibration for tenured talent.

Measurement Approaches

Pending editorial review.

Evidence

Evidence Grade
C (A strongest → E speculative)
Replication
★★★☆☆
Intervention Confidence
4 / 5
Consensus
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Limitations
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Open Research Questions

Pending editorial review.

Primary References

Pending editorial review.

Signature Section

The Perverse Incentive Lens™

How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.

Exploitation
Quiet attrition driven by compensation asymmetry.
Amplifying Incentives
Quiet attrition driven by compensation asymmetry.
Org Failure Modes
Quiet attrition driven by compensation asymmetry.
Societal Failure Modes
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Ethical Considerations
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Redesign Strategies
Annual market-rate calibration for tenured talent.
Diagnostic Questions
  • Annual market-rate calibration for tenured talent.
Warning Signs

Pending editorial review.

Red Flags

Pending editorial review.

Intervention Playbook
Individual
Annual market-rate calibration for tenured talent.
Team
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Organization
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Policy
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
AI Implications
Detection
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Measurement
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Mitigation
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).
Responsible Use
Pending editorial review (HBT v1.0 auto-seed).

Interactive Mini Network

Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.

HBT-INC-0279 · INC
Two-Tier Compensation Quiet Quitting
TCAPAnnual Performance R…CLCampbell's LawCOCharity Overhead TrapCOCharity Overhead Tra…CECobra EffectEMEfficiency MonocultureFLFederal Land Exchang…GLGoodhart's LawHDHyper-Specialization…LOLocal-Optimum Optimi…

Knowledge Graph Neighbors

Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.

Version History

v1.1.0 · 2026-06-28Initial auto-seed from corpus.