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Social Comparison and Optimal Contracts in the Competition for Managerial Talent

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  • Anna Ulrichshofer
  • Markus Walzl

Abstract

We analyze the impact of social comparison on optimal contract design under imperfect labor market competition for managerial talent. Adding a disutility of social comparison as induced by a ranking of verifiable efforts to the multi-task model by Bénabou and Tirole (4238), we demonstrate that rankings can reduce welfare distortions of optimal screening contracts if the degree of competition for talent is sufficiently low. In contrast, a ranking unambiguously reduces welfare if the competition intensity is high and agents suffer from lagging behind while it can enhance welfare (depending on the fraction of high and low productivity types) if agents suffer from leading in a ranking (e.g., because the ranked activity is perceived as a substitute for other potentially pro-social activities).

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Ulrichshofer & Markus Walzl, 2020. "Social Comparison and Optimal Contracts in the Competition for Managerial Talent," Working Papers 2020-19, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    • Handle: RePEc:inn:wpaper:2020-19
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Stefan, Matthias & Huber, Jürgen & Kirchler, Michael & Sutter, Matthias & Walzl, Markus, 2023. "Monetary and social incentives in multi-tasking: The ranking substitution effect," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Matthias Stefan & Jürgen Huber & Michael Kirchler & Matthias Sutter & Markus Walzl, 2020. "Monetary and Social Incentives in Multi-Tasking: The Ranking Substitution Effect," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2020_10, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Incentive compensation; screening; imperfect labor market competition; social comparison; rankings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • G35 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Payout Policy
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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