The pros and cons of workplace tournaments

Roman Sheremeta

IZA World of Labor, 2016, No 302, 302

Abstract: Tournaments are commonly used in the workplace to determine promotion, assign bonuses, and motivate personal development. Tournament-based contracts can be very effective in eliciting high effort, often outperforming other compensation contracts, but they can also have negative consequences for both managers and workers. The benefits and disadvantages of workplace tournaments have been identified in an explosion of theoretical, empirical, and experimental research over the past 30 years. Based on these findings, suggestions and guidelines can be provided for when it might be beneficial to use tournaments in the workplace.

Keywords: tournaments; competition; contracts; workplace (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Pros and Cons of Workplace Tournaments (2017)
Working Paper: The Pros and Cons of Workplace Tournaments (2016)
Working Paper: The Pros and Cons of Workplace Tournaments (2016)
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