Getting More Work for Nothing? Symbolic Awards and Worker Performance

Michael Kosfeld · Susanne Neckermann

346 citations0/0 files storedAmerican Economic Journal Microeconomics

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Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies Social Power and Status Dynamics Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research

Abstract

We study the impact of status and social recognition on worker performance in a field experiment. In collaboration with an international non-governmental organization, we hired students to work on a database project. Students in the award treatment were offered a congratulatory card honoring the best performance. The award was purely symbolic to ensure that any behavioral effect is driven by non-material benefits. Our results show that the award increases performance by about 12 percent on average. The results provide strong evidence for the motivating power of status and social recognition in labor relations. (JEL C93, J33, M12, M52)

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References

2000Fairness and Retaliation: The Economics of Reciprocity 2003Management and the Worker 2005A theory of reciprocity 1934The Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization 2003A theory of sequential reciprocity 2009Doing Good or Doing Well? Image Motivation and Monetary Incentives in Behaving Prosocially 2001Status in Markets

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