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They're not mutually exclusive, but they are negatively correlated.

The more enjoyable a job is, the lower the salary the boss can offer before people balk at taking it. It isn't something you can suss out in individual cases, but statistically speaking it holds up.

When I sysadminned in the turn of the millenium, I could definitely see the pay gap between running systems for corporate America and doing it for scientists in academia.

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"The more enjoyable a job is, the lower the salary the boss can offer before people balk at taking it. "

This is not in line what I saw when I worked as a contractor. The higher the pay was, the better people got treated. The worst places were non-profits where people took really low salaries. They not only didn't make money but were also treated like sh.t.

I may be misreading, but it seems you're looking for an antonym of balk.

Balk:

Hesitate or be unwilling to accept an idea or proposal.

I don't think so. Let's substitute balk:

> The more enjoyable a job is, the lower the salary the boss can offer before people [hesitate to] take it.

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