Large Stakes and Big Mistakes

S-Tier
Journal: Review of Economic Studies
Year: 2009
Volume: 76
Issue: 2
Pages: 451-469

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Workers in a wide variety of jobs are paid based on performance, which is commonly seen as enhancing effort and productivity relative to non-contingent pay schemes. However, psychological research suggests that excessive rewards can, in some cases, result in a decline in performance. To test whether very high monetary rewards can decrease performance, we conducted a set of experiments in the U.S. and in India in which subjects worked on different tasks and received performance-contingent payments that varied in amount from small to very large relative to their typical levels of pay. With some important exceptions, very high reward levels had a detrimental effect on performance. Copyright , Wiley-Blackwell.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:restud:v:76:y:2009:i:2:p:451-469
Journal Field
General
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-25