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The desire for impact

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  • Dur, Robert
  • Glazer, Amihai

Abstract

This paper explores the meaning and implications of the desire by workers for impact. We find that this impact motive can make a firm in a competitive labor market face an upward-sloping supply curve of labor, lead workers with the same characteristics but at different firms to earn different wages, may alleviate the hold-up problem in firm-specific investment, can make it profitable for an employer to give workers autonomy in effort or task choice, and can propagate shocks to unemployment.

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  • Dur, Robert & Glazer, Amihai, 2008. "The desire for impact," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 285-300, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:29:y:2008:i:3:p:285-300
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    2. Reinstein, David, 2014. "The Economics of the Gift," Economics Discussion Papers 10009, University of Essex, Department of Economics.
    3. Benedicte Carlsen & Jo Thori Lind & Karine Nyborg, 2020. "Why physicians are lousy gatekeepers: Sicklisting decisions when patients have private information on symptoms," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(7), pages 778-789, July.
    4. Dur, Robert & Non, Arjan & Roelfsema, Hein, 2010. "Reciprocity and incentive pay in the workplace," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 676-686, August.
    5. Rebitzer, James B. & Taylor, Lowell J., 2011. "Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motives: Standard and Behavioral Approaches to Agency and Labor Markets," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 8, pages 701-772, Elsevier.
    6. Brekke, Kjell Arne & Nyborg, Karine, 2010. "Selfish bakers, caring nurses? A model of work motivation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 377-394, September.
    7. Benedetto Gui, 2021. "In search of a market morality for making real the “Community of Advantage”: a note on Sugden’s “Principle of Mutual Benefit”," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 68(1), pages 131-140, March.
    8. Vujko, Aleksandra & Tretiakova, Tatiana N. & Petrović, Marko D. & Radovanović, Milan & Gajić, Tamara & Vuković, Darko, 2019. "Women’s empowerment through self-employment in tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 328-330.
    9. Carlsen, Benedicte & Nyborg, Karine, 2017. "Healer or Gatekeeper? Physicians' Role Conflict When Symptoms Are Non-Verifiable," IZA Discussion Papers 10735, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Josse Delfgaauw, 2005. "Where to go? Workers' Reasons to quit and Intra- versus Interindustry Job Mobility," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 05-027/1, Tinbergen Institute, revised 08 Aug 2005.
    11. Sadrieh, Abdolkarim & Schröder, Marina, 2016. "Materialistic, pro-social, anti-social, or mixed – A within-subject examination of self- and other-regarding preferences," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 114-124.
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J4 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics

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