Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/84145 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 4393
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We conduct a field experiment in a controlled work environment to investigate the effect of motivational talk and its interaction with monetary incentives. We find that motivational talk significantly improves performance only if it is accompanied by performance pay. Moreover, performance pay reduces performance unless it is accompanied by motivational talk. By adding motivational sentences to an otherwise neutral explanation of the work task, the effect of performance pay goes from slightly negative to significantly positive. Hence, we find what we call a hidden benefit of monetary rewards: complementarity between performance pay and motivational talk.
Subjects: 
verbal motivation
performance pay
field experiment
JEL: 
C93
M52
J33
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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