Why real leisure really matters: incentive effects on real effort in the laboratory

Brice Corgnet, Roberto Hernán-González () and Eric Schniter
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Roberto Hernán González

Experimental Economics, 2015, vol. 18, issue 2, 284-301

Abstract: On-the-job leisure is a pervasive feature of the modern workplace. We studied its impact on work performance in a laboratory experiment by either allowing or restricting Internet access. We used a 2 × 2 experimental design in which subjects completing real-effort work tasks could earn cash according to either individual- or team-production incentive schemes. Under team pay, production levels were significantly lower when Internet browsing was available than when it was not. Under individual pay, however, no differences in production levels were observed between the treatment in which Internet was available and the treatment in which it was not. In line with standard incentive theory, individual pay outperformed team pay across all periods of the experiment when Internet browsing was available. This was not the case, however, when Internet browsing was unavailable. These results demonstrate that the integration of on-the-job leisure activities into an experimental labor design is crucial for uncovering incentive effects. Copyright Economic Science Association 2015

Keywords: Incentive; Free riding; Internet access; Experimental method; C92; D23; M52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (82)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Why real leisure really matters: incentive effects on real effort in the laboratory (2015)
Working Paper: Why Real Leisure Really Matters: Incentive Effects on Real Effort in the Laboratory (2013)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10683-014-9401-4

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