It is related to your personal anecdote, that you couldn't get a bigger salary because it would have surpassed the salaries of other employees of the same perceived value as you.
With my personal anecdote I was showing that this can also work in your favor, and under some reasonable assumptions this will increase the average salary and decrease the variance as you suggested. The only losers are good negotiators or persons with good pedigree, because they win at the expense of others.
BTW, the second company I mentioned doesn't actually have public salaries, just matched salaries for similar perceived value. So I still don't know what people above/below me or on different tracks make.
With my personal anecdote I was showing that this can also work in your favor, and under some reasonable assumptions this will increase the average salary and decrease the variance as you suggested. The only losers are good negotiators or persons with good pedigree, because they win at the expense of others.
BTW, the second company I mentioned doesn't actually have public salaries, just matched salaries for similar perceived value. So I still don't know what people above/below me or on different tracks make.