Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/71169 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 4164
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This paper reports the results from a controlled field experiment designed to investigate the causal effect of public recognition on employee performance. We hired more than 300 employees to work on a three-hour data-entry task. In a random sample of work groups, workers unexpectedly received recognition after two hours of work. We find that recognition increases subsequent performance substantially, and particularly so when recognition is exclusively provided to the best performers. Remarkably, workers who did not receive recognition are mainly responsible for this performance increase. This result is consistent with workers having a preference for conformity.
Subjects: 
employee motivation
recognition
reciprocity
conformity
field experiment
JEL: 
C93
M52
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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