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Does Team-Based Compensation Give Rise to Problems when Agents Vary in their Ability ?

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Author Info
Claude Meidinger (TEAM - Théories et Applications en Microéconomie et Macroéconomie - CNRS : UMR8059 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I)
Jean-Louis Rullière () (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines)
Marie-Claire Villeval (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines)

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Abstract

This paper reports the results of an experiment on how team composition influences both the contract offer of employers and employee performance when a revenue-sharing scheme is introduced. Experimental evidence shows that the principal ceases trying to monitor her team through a contract offer when agents vary in their ability. In this case, agents focus more heavily on their teammate's behaviour than on the principal's offer and therefore, regardless of the level of team-based compensation, a large amount of free-riding occurs within the team. In contrast, when the team is homogeneous, agents are better able to use the contract offer as a coordination device among themselves and therefore achieve higher efficiency.

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Paper provided by HAL in its series Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) with number halshs-00179979_v1.

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Date of creation: 2001
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Handle: RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00179979_v1

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Related research
Keywords: compensation; experimental economics; free-riding; peer pressure; teamwork;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Ichniowski, Casey & Shaw, Kathryn & Prennushi, Giovanna, 1997. "The Effects of Human Resource Management Practices on Productivity: A Study of Steel Finishing Lines," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(3), pages 291-313, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. William E. Encinosa III & Martin Gaynor & James B. Rebitzer, 1997. "The Sociology of Groups and the Economics of Incentives: Theory and Evidence on Compensation Systems," NBER Working Papers 5953, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Leibowitz, Arleen & Tollison, Robert, 1980. "Free Riding, Shirking, and Team Production in Legal Partnerships," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(3), pages 380-94, July.
  4. Gaynor, Martin & Pauly, Mark V, 1990. "Compensation and Productive Efficiency of Partnerships: Evidence from Medical Group Practice," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(3), pages 544-73, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Andreoni, James, 1988. "Why free ride? : Strategies and learning in public goods experiments," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 291-304, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Cooper, Russell & DeJong, Douglas V. & Forsythe, Robert & Ross, Thomas W., 1996. "Cooperation without Reputation: Experimental Evidence from Prisoner's Dilemma Games," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 187-218, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Clark, Kenneth & Sefton, Martin, 2001. "The Sequential Prisoner's Dilemma: Evidence on Reciprocation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(468), pages 51-68, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Edward P. Lazear, 2000. "Performance Pay and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1346-1361, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Ernst Fehr & Simon Gachter & Georg Kirchsteiger, 1997. "Reciprocity as a Contract Enforcement Device: Experimental Evidence," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(4), pages 833-860, July.
  10. Alessandro Rossi & Massimo Warglien, 1999. "Fairness in Hierarchical Triangles: an Experimental Study," ROCK Working Papers 006, Department of Computer and Management Sciences, University of Trento, Italy.
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  13. Marc Fleurbaey & Francois Maniquet, 1999. "Cooperative production with unequal skills: The solidarity approach to compensation," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 569-583. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Werner Güth & Manfred Königstein & Judit Kovács & Enikõ Zala-Mezõ, 2001. "Fairness Within Firms: The Case Of One Principal And Multiple Agents," Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), LMU Munich School of Management, vol. 53(2), pages 82-101, April. [Downloadable!]
  15. Farrell, Joseph & Scotchmer, Suzanne, 1988. "Partnerships," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 103(2), pages 279-97, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. FitzRoy, Felix R. & Kraft, Kornelius, 1995. "On the choice of incentives in firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 145-160, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Kandel, Eugene & Lazear, Edward P, 1992. "Peer Pressure and Partnerships," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 801-17, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  18. Canice Prendergast, 1999. "The Provision of Incentives in Firms," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 7-63, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Booth, Alison L & Frank, Jeff, 1999. "Earnings, Productivity, and Performance-Related Pay," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(3), pages 447-63, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Jacob K. Goeree & Charles A. Holt, 2000. "Ten Little Treasures of Game Theory and Ten Intuitive Contradictions," Virginia Economics Online Papers 333, University of Virginia, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  21. Van Huyck, John B & Battalio, Raymond C & Beil, Richard O, 1990. "Tacit Coordination Games, Strategic Uncertainty, and Coordination Failure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 234-48, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Croson, Rachel T. A., 1996. "Partners and strangers revisited," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 25-32, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Marilyne Antonetti & Alexandra Rufini, 2008. "Social norms, coordination and collaboration in heterogeneous teams," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(7), pages 547-554. [Downloadable!]
  2. Manfred Königstein & Gabriele K. Ruchala, 2007. "Performance Pay, Group Selection and Group Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 2697, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Claude Montmarquette & Jean-Louis Rullière & Marie-Claire Villeval & Romain Zeiliger, 2003. "Redesigning Teams and Incentives in a Merger: An Experiment with Managers and Students," CIRANO Working Papers 2003s-69, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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