Why you should know how much your coworkers get paid | David Burkus

• Economists warn that information asymmetry can cause markets to go awry.
• Information asymmetry makes it easier to ignore the discrimination that's already present in the market today (the gender wage gap between men and women).

Letting people know what you make might feel uncomfortable, but isn't it less uncomfortable than always wondering if you're being discriminated against? Openness remains the best way to ensure fairness, and pay transparency does that.

That's why entrepreneurial leaders and corporate leaders have been experimenting with sharing salaries for years. And studies show that, when people know how they're being paid and how that pay compares to their peers', they're more likely to work hard to improve their performance, more likely to be engaged, and they're less likely to quit.

It's not one size fits all. Some post their salaries for all to see. Some only keep it inside the company. Some post the formula for calculating pay, and others post the pay levels and affix everybody to that level.

So you don't have to make signs for all of your employees to wear around the office. And you don't have to be the only one wearing a sign that you made at home. But we can all take greater steps towards pay transparency.