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Prosocial managers, employee motivation, and the creation of shareholder value

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  • Kajackaite, Agne
  • Sliwka, Dirk

Abstract

We argue that when contracts are incomplete it is not necessarily in the interest even of money maximizing shareholders to pick a manager who intends to maximize shareholder value. We first show in a formal model, as well as using observational data from over 900 firms and in a series of lab experiments that choosing a manager who has a preference to spend resources for social causes can increase employee motivation. In turn, losses in shareholder value due to investments in social causes may be offset by gains in employees’ performance. The selection of a manager with social interests serves as a commitment device that raises employee motivation.

Suggested Citation

  • Kajackaite, Agne & Sliwka, Dirk, 2020. "Prosocial managers, employee motivation, and the creation of shareholder value," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 217-235.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:172:y:2020:i:c:p:217-235
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2020.02.021
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sule Alan & Gozde Corekcioglu & Matthias Sutter, 2023. "Improving Workplace Climate in Large Corporations: A Clustered Randomized Intervention," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 138(1), pages 151-203.
    2. Hiller, Victor & Raffin, Natacha, 2020. "Firms’ social responsibility and workers’ motivation at the industry equilibrium," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 131-149.
    3. Kampkötter, Patrick & Petters, Lea M. & Sliwka, Dirk, 2021. "Employee identification and wages – on the economics of “Affective Commitment”," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 608-626.
    4. Nadia Burani, 2021. "No mission? No motivation. On hospitals' organizational form and charity care provision," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 3203-3219, December.
    5. Jiao, Anqi & Lu, Juntai & Wei, Jia & Zhang, Wenqiao, 2023. "Do prosocial CEOs promote innovation?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Shareholder value; Corporate social responsibility; Incentives; Motivation; Experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects

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