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But why would a company even want to discourage salary discussions?
但是為什么公司會反對討論薪資呢？
Why do some people go along with it, while others revolt against it?
為什么一些人服從，而另一些人反對呢？
It turns out that in addition to the assumed reasons, pay secrecy is actually a way to save a lot of money.
除了之前猜測的理由之外，對薪資保密還是省錢的良方。
You see, keeping salaries secret leads to what economists call "information asymmetry."
想想看，工資不透明會導致經濟學家所說的“信息不對稱”。
This is a situation where, in a negotiation, one party has loads more information than the other.
在這種情況下談判的雙方，一方比另一方掌握更多的信息。
And in hiring or promotion or annual raise discussions, an employer can use that secrecy to save a lot of money.
在招聘、升職、加薪的討論中，雇主就可以用這個秘密省很多錢。
Imagine how much better you could negotiate for a raise if you knew everybody's salary.
想象一下，知道每個人的工資，對你的加薪談判多么有利。
Economists warn that information asymmetry can cause markets to go awry.
經濟學家提醒道：信息不對稱會導致市場偏離正軌。
Someone leaves a pay stub on the copier, and suddenly everybody is shouting at each other.
如果有人在復印時不小心遺留了一張工資表，很快大家就會彼此爭論起來。
In fact, they even warn that information asymmetry can lead to a total market failure.
事實上，經濟學家甚至還提醒，信息不對稱可能導致市場失調。
And I think we're almost there. Here's why: first, most employees have no idea how their pay compares to their peers'.
我認為我們正處在這個邊緣，原因就在于：首先，大部分雇員不清楚自己與同事的工資存在多少差異。
In a 2015 survey of 70,000 employees,
在2015年進行的一項覆蓋7萬名雇員的調查中，
two-thirds of everyone who is paid at the market rate said that they felt they were underpaid.
三分之二的調查者認為他們被壓低了薪水，雖然他們拿到的都是基于市場正常水平支付的工資。
And of everybody who felt that they were underpaid, 60 percent said that they intended to quit,
這些認為被壓低工資的人，有60%說他們想要辭職，
regardless of where they were -- underpaid, overpaid or right at the market rate.
不管他們的實際工資是過低還是過高，還是恰好在正常水平。
If you were part of this survey, what would you say? Are you underpaid?
如果你參與這個調查，你會怎么說？你被壓低工資了嗎？
Well, wait -- how do you even know, because you're not allowed to talk about it?
等一下，既然都不允許談論工資，你又怎么知道是被壓低了？
Next, information asymmetry, pay secrecy, makes it easier to ignore the discrimination that's already present in the market today.
其次，信息不對稱，薪資保密，會讓市場中現實存在的歧視更容易被忽視。
In a 2011 report from the Institute for Women's Policy Research, the gender wage gap between men and women was 23 percent.
婦女政策研究協會在2011年發布的一份報告顯示，男性和女性的工資差距高達23%。
This is where that 77 cents on the dollar comes from.
這就是“1美元中的77美分”（職場女性的薪酬是男性同事的77%）的來歷。
But in the Federal Government, where salaries are pinned to certain levels and everybody knows what those levels are,
但在聯邦政府部門，薪資是有固定標準的，每個雇員都清楚這個標準，
the gender wage gap shrinks to 11 percent
那里的性別薪資差距就只有11%
and this is before controlling for any of the factors that economists argue over whether or not to control for.
這還是在實施經濟學家呼吁的控制措施之前的數據。
