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Outlier Aversion in Evaluating Performance: Evidence from Figure Skating

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Author Info
Lee, Jungmin () (University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and IZA Bonn)

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Abstract

The quality of subjective performance evaluation is dependent on the incentive structures faced by evaluators, in particular on how they are monitored and themselves evaluated. Figure skating competitions provide a unique opportunity to study subjective evaluation. This paper develops and tests a simple model of what I call "outlier aversion bias" in which subjective evaluators avoid submitting outlying judgments. We find significant evidence for the existence of outlier aversion. Individual judges within a game manipulate scores to achieve a targeted level of agreement with the other judges. Furthermore, a natural experiment shows that the dispersion of scores across judges depends upon the type of judge-assessment system and its implication for outlier aversion. Agreement may not be a good criterion for the validity of an evaluation system, contradicting the industrial psychology and personnel management literature.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1257.

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Length: 40 pages
Date of creation: Aug 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1257

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Related research
Keywords: subjective performance evaluation; outlier aversion bias;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Personnel Economics

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
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