In this address, I distinguish and explore three conceptions of wages. A wage is a reward, given in recognition of the performance of a valued task. It is also an incentive: a way to entice workers to take and keep jobs, and to motivate them to work hard. Finally, a wage is a price of labor, and like all prices, conveys valuable information about relative scarcity. I show that each conception of wages has its own normative logic, or appropriate justification, and these logics can come apart. This explains some of the debate about wages and makes the project of justifying a wage simpliciter difficult. I identify which logic we should choose, since we must choose, and say what this means for how we should think about the justification of pay.

中文翻译：

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工资里有什么？薪酬合理化的新方法

在这篇演讲中，我区分并探讨了工资的三个概念。工资是一种奖励，是对完成有价值任务的认可而给予的。这也是一种激励：一种吸引工人接受和保住工作，并激励他们努力工作的方式。最后，工资是劳动力的价格，与所有价格一样，它传达了有关相对稀缺性的宝贵信息。我表明，每个工资概念都有自己的规范逻辑或适当的理由，这些逻辑可以分开。这解释了一些关于工资的争论，并使证明工资简化的项目变得困难。我确定我们应该选择哪种逻辑，因为我们必须选择，并说明这对于我们应该如何思考薪酬合理性的意义。