Awards at work

Susanne Neckermann, Reto Cueni and Bruno Frey

No 411, IEW - Working Papers from Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich

Abstract: Awards�widespread in the corporate sector and elsewhere�are motivators that derive their value from non-pecuniary concerns such as status and self-image. Quasi-experimental panel data from the call center of a large international bank allow us to estimate the causal impact on effort when receiving an award. The performance of winners proves to be significantly higher than that of comparable nonrecipients after the award has been presented. This increase in work effort is sizeable and robust. We investigate the various theories that could explain the change in behavior. We find that image concerns most likely drive the effect.

Keywords: Awards; motivation; non-monetary compensation; insider econometrics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 J33 M52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-cbe, nep-lab and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/51722/1/iewwp411.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Awards at work (2014)
Working Paper: Awards at work (2012)
Working Paper: Awards at work (2010)
Working Paper: Awards At Work (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zur:iewwpx:411

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