The Pay Inequalities and Economic Performance (PIEP) project investigates the relationship between pay stratification and business and employment performance in Europe at the micro level, using newly available comparative economic data to test a variety of hypotheses relating to the role that firms' performance management systems play in the macroeconomy. In particular, the project explores the ways in which these systems interact with institutional features of the labour market to produce different outcomes in different regional and industrial contexts. At the core of its empirical research programme is the 1995 European Structure of Earnings Survey (ESES), which provides rich data on key micro-level variables on a comparable basis across Europe. It is hoped that the project's conclusions will contribute positively to policy debate and design in the European Union.

The project is conducted by a multidisciplinary team of academic researchers with support from the European Commission and in close collaboration with Eurostat and the national statistical institutes. The Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics is acting as hub for the research network and provider of computing resources to the academic team. Publication of the team's findings is projected for 2003.