And the Winner is...? The Motivating Power of Employee Awards

32 Pages Posted: 19 Dec 2013

See all articles by Susanne Neckermann

Susanne Neckermann

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE)

Bruno S. Frey

CREMA; University of Basel

Date Written: December 18, 2013

Abstract

This paper reports the findings from a survey experiment conducted online at IBM to assess the impact of employee awards on behavior in the workplace. We document that the introduction of a hypothetical award has statistically significant effects on the stated willingness to contribute to a public good. Our design allows us to estimate the impact of different award characteristics related to, for example, how public or how valuable the award is. The stated willingness to share important information with colleagues increases monotonically with the value of the monetary payment or gift that comes with the award and is lower for gifts than payments of equal value. Moreover, publicity has a substantial positive effect: a ceremony increases stated contributions by as much as increasing the value of the award from $0 to $1,000.

Suggested Citation

Neckermann, Susanne and Frey, Bruno S., And the Winner is...? The Motivating Power of Employee Awards (December 18, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2369372 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2369372

Susanne Neckermann (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) ( email )

Bruno S. Frey

CREMA ( email )

Südstrasse 11
Zurich, CH 8008
Switzerland
+41 44 380 00 78 (Phone)

University of Basel ( email )

Peter Merian-Weg 6
Basel, 4002
Switzerland

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