Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/193214 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 11920
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
A previous literature cautions that paying workers for performance might crowd out non-monetary motives to work hard. Empirical evidence from the field, however, has been based on between-subjects designs that are best suited for detecting crowding out due to low-powered incentives. High-powered incentives in the workplace tend to increase output, but it is unknown whether this masks crowding out. This paper uses a within-subject experimental design and finds evidence that crowding out also extends to high-powered incentives, in a real work setting with paid workers. There is individual heterogeneity, however, with a minority of workers report crowding in of motivation. Thus, the impact of performance pay might depend on the mix of worker types.
Subjects: 
intrinsic motivation
incentives
non-cognitive skills
experiment
JEL: 
D03
J22
J33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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