Discussion paper

DP13226 The Effect of Incentives in Non-Routine Analytical Team Tasks - Evidence from a Field Experiment

Despite the prevalence of non-routine analytical team tasks in modern economies, little is known about how incentives influence performance in these tasks. In a field experiment with more than 3000 participants, we document a positive effect of bonus incentives on the probability of completion of such a task. Bonus incentives increase performance due to the reward rather than the reference point (performance threshold) they provide. The framing of bonuses (as gains or losses) plays a minor role. Incentives improve performance also in an additional sample of presumably less motivated workers. However, incentives reduce these workers' willingness to "explore" original solutions.

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Citation

Englmaier, F, S Grimm, D Schindler and S Schudy (2018), ‘DP13226 The Effect of Incentives in Non-Routine Analytical Team Tasks - Evidence from a Field Experiment‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 13226. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp13226