Motivating Knowledge Agents: Can Incentive Pay Overcome Social Distance?

Erlend Berg, Maitreesh Ghatak, Manjula Ramachandra, Rajasekhar Durgam and Sanchari Roy

No 2013-06, CSAE Working Paper Series from Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford

Abstract: This paper studies the interaction of incentive pay and social distance in the dissemination of information. We analyse theoretically as well as empirically the effect of incentive pay when agents have pro-social objectives, but also preferences over dealing with one social group relative to another. In a randomised field experiment undertaken across 151 villages in South India, local agents were hired to spread information about a public health insurance programme. Relative to flat pay, incentive pay improves knowledge transmission to households that are socially distant from the agent, but not to households similar to the agent.

Keywords: public services; information constraints; incentive pay; social proximity; knowledge transmission (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D83 I38 M52 O15 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cta, nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Motivating Knowledge Agents: Can Incentive Pay Overcome Social Distance? (2019)
Working Paper: Motivating Knowledge Agents: Can Incentive Pay Overcome Social Distance? (2013)
Working Paper: Motivating Knowledge Agents: Can Incentive Pay Overcome Social Distance (2013)
Working Paper: Motivating Knowledge Agents: Can Incentive Pay Overcome Social Distance? (2013)
Working Paper: Motivating knowledge agents: can incentive pay overcome social distance? (2013)
Working Paper: Motivating Knowledge Agents: Can Incentive Pay Overcome Social Distance? (2013)
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