Task assignment as dynamic incentives

Yonghang Ji and Allen Vong

Papers from arXiv.org

Abstract: We study repeated task assignment as an instrument for providing effort incentives. Unlike traditional incentive instruments, assignment of a task both determines who produces and provides incentives, and incentives for one worker spill over to others because assignment is exclusive. We show that optimal incentives uniquely require a strict and evolving priority ranking through which workers are assigned the task. This ranking implies that workers' average workloads differ even when they are symmetric in all payoff-relevant respects. We characterize how workforce size, monitoring, and working conditions shape the scope of optimal incentive provision and the resulting inequality among workers.

Date: 2025-11, Revised 2026-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mic
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