Supervisory Status and Upper-level Supervisory Responsibilities:Evidence from the NLSY79

The attainment of supervisory status and higher-level supervisory authority representsmovement up a career ladder. Significant types of responsibilities and decision-making authoritycan be involved with being in a supervisory role, such as setting subordinates’ job tasks,evaluating their work, and having influence over their pay and promotions. Past research(mostly theoretical) has suggested that supervisors can have an important impact on workerproductivity through (for example) monitoring, task allocation, and by acting in a mentoring role. There is very little empirical work, however, that examines the likelihood of havingsupervisory responsibilities, or the effects of having these responsibilities on the worker him or herself.