Pay fairness and human capital theories make different predictions about trainees’ occupational turnover in situations where trainees perceive unfair pay but receive huge potential returns from training. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how pay fairness and human capital investment combined to explain why trainees are motivated to persist in employment when they perceive unfair pay. Cross-sectional survey data from 144 minor league baseball players showed that athletes perceived unfair pay but had low occupational turnover intentions because they perceived high learning achievement and expected to play in Major League Baseball eventually. Perceptions of unfair pay only increased occupational turnover intentions under certain conditions, such as when athletes had low expectations of playing at least one game in Major League Baseball in the next 3 years. The results support a framework that combines human capital theory and pay fairness theories to explain boundary conditions for trainee motivation.

薪酬公平和人力资本理论在受训者感知不公平薪酬但从培训中获得巨大潜在回报的情况下对受训者的职业流动做出不同的预测。因此，本研究的目的是检验薪酬公平和人力资本投资如何结合起来解释为什么受训人员在感知到薪酬不公平时有动力坚持就业。来自 144 名小联盟棒球运动员的横断面调查数据显示，运动员感知到不公平的报酬，但职业离职意向低，因为他们感知到高学习成就并期望最终在美国职业棒球大联盟打球。在某些情况下，对不公平薪酬的看法只会增加职业离职意向，例如，运动员对在未来 3 年至少参加美国职业棒球大联盟的一场比赛的期望很低。结果支持结合人力资本理论和薪酬公平理论的框架来解释受训者动机的边界条件。