This file is part of IDEAS , which uses RePEc data
[ Papers |
Articles |
Software |
Books |
Chapters |
Authors |
Institutions |
JEL Classification |
NEP reports |
Search |
New papers by email |
Author registration |
Rankings |
Volunteers |
FAQ |
Blog |
Help! ]
Psychological Foundations of Incentives Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics Ernst Fehr
Armin Falk
Additional information is available for the following
registered author(s):
During the last two decades economists have made much progress in understanding incentives, contracts and organisations. Yet, they constrained their attention to a very narrow and empirically questionable view of human motivation. The purpose of this paper is to show that this narrow view of human motivation may severely limit understanding the determinants and effects of incentives. Economists may fail to understand the levels and the changes in behaviour if they neglect motives like the desire to reciprocate or the desire to avoid social disapproval. We show that monetary incentives may backfire and reduce the performance of agents or their compliance with rules. In addition, these motives may generate very powerful incentives themselves.
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
file . Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Paper provided by Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW in its series IEW - Working Papers with number
iewwp095.
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML ,
plain text ,
BibTeX ,
RIS (EndNote),
ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:zur:iewwpx:095Contact details of provider:
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Hanna Britt).
Keywords: Incentives contracts reciprocity social approval social norms intrinsic motivation. Other versions of this item:
Article Paper Falk, Armin & Fehr, Ernst, 2002.
"Psychological Foundations of Incentives ,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
3185, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
[Downloadable!] (restricted) Fehr, Ernst & Falk, Armin, 2002.
"Psychological Foundations of Incentives ,"
IZA Discussion Papers
507, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
[Downloadable!] Ernst Fehr & Armin Falk, 2002.
"Psychological Foundations of Incentives ,"
CESifo Working Paper Series
CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH.
[Downloadable!] Ernst Fehr, 2003.
"Psychological Foundations of Incentives ,"
Microeconomics
0305010, EconWPA.
[Downloadable!] Find related papers by JEL classification: H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods H7 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports :
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.: McCabe, Kevin A. & Rigdon, Mary L. & Smith, Vernon L., 2003.
"Positive reciprocity and intentions in trust games ,"
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization ,
Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 267-275, October.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Robert Cooter, 1998.
"Expressive Law and Economics ,"
CESifo Working Paper Series
CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH.
Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 1999.
"Social relations and cooperation in organizations ,"
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization ,
Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-25, January.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Camerer, Colin, et al, 1997.
"Labor Supply of New York City Cabdrivers: One Day at a Time ,"
The Quarterly Journal of Economics ,
MIT Press, vol. 112(2), pages 407-41, May.
Other versions: Baker, George P, 1992.
"Incentive Contracts and Performance Measurement ,"
Journal of Political Economy ,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(3), pages 598-614, June.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Lindbeck, A & Nyberg, S & Weibull, J-W, 1997.
"Social Norms and Economic Incentives in the Welfare State ,"
Papers
476, Industrial Institute for Economic and Social Research.
Other versions: Ted O'Donoghue & Matthew Rabin, 1999.
"Incentives For Procrastinators ,"
The Quarterly Journal of Economics ,
MIT Press, vol. 114(3), pages 769-816, August.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Lindbeck, Assar, 1995.
" Welfare State Disincentives with Endogenous Habits and Norms ,"
Scandinavian Journal of Economics ,
Blackwell Publishing, vol. 97(4), pages 477-94, December.
Other versions: Laury, Susan K. & Walker, James M. & Williams, Arlington W., 1995.
"Anonymity and the voluntary provision of public goods ,"
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization ,
Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 365-380, August.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Mari Rege and Kjetil Telle, 2001.
"An Experimental Investigation of Social Norms ,"
Discussion Papers
310, Research Department of Statistics Norway.
[Downloadable!]
Kreps, David M. & Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John & Wilson, Robert, 1982.
"Rational cooperation in the finitely repeated prisoners' dilemma ,"
Journal of Economic Theory ,
Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 245-252, August.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
George A. Akerlof, 1978.
"A theory of social custom, of which unemployment may be one consequence ,"
Special Studies Papers
118, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
Other versions: Johannesson, Magnus & Persson, Bjorn, 2000.
"Non-reciprocal altruism in dictator games ,"
Economics Letters ,
Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 137-142, November.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Kubler, Dorothea, 2001.
"On the Regulation of Social Norms ,"
Journal of Law, Economics and Organization ,
Oxford University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 449-76, October.
Other versions: Gary Charness & Matthew Rabin, 1999.
"Social Preferences: Some Simple Tests and a New Model ,"
Economics Working Papers
441, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jan 2000.
[Downloadable!]
Other versions:
Gary Charness & Matthew Rabin, 2000.
"Social Preferences: Some Simple Tests and a New Model ,"
Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers
1483, Econometric Society.
[Downloadable!] Gary Charness & Matthew Rabin, 2001.
"Social Preferences: Some Simple Tests and a New Model ,"
General Economics and Teaching
0012002, EconWPA.
[Downloadable!] Gary Charness & Matthew Rabin, 2000.
"Social Preferences: Some Simple Tests and a New Model ,"
Department of Economics, Working Paper Series
1030, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
[Downloadable!] Gary Charness and Matthew Rabin., 2000.
"Social Preferences: Some Simple Tests and a New Model ,"
Economics Working Papers
E00-283, University of California at Berkeley.
[Downloadable!] 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.
Bolton Gary E. & Zwick Rami, 1995.
"Anonymity versus Punishment in Ultimatum Bargaining ,"
Games and Economic Behavior ,
Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 95-121, July.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Gary E. Bolton & Rami Zwick & Elena Katok, 1998.
"Dictator game giving: Rules of fairness versus acts of kindness ,"
International Journal of Game Theory ,
Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 269-299.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Lindbeck, Assar, 1997.
"Incentives and Social Norms in Household Behavior ,"
American Economic Review ,
American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 370-77, May.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions: Ernst Fehr & Simon Gachter, 2000.
"Cooperation and Punishment in Public Goods Experiments ,"
American Economic Review ,
American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 980-994, September.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions: Fehr, Ernst & Kirchsteiger, George & Riedl, Arno, 1993.
"Does Fairness Prevent Market Clearing? An Experimental Investigation ,"
The Quarterly Journal of Economics ,
MIT Press, vol. 108(2), pages 437-59, May.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Cooter, Robert, 1998.
"Expressive Law and Economics ,"
Journal of Legal Studies ,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(2), pages 585-608, June.
Abbink, Klaus & Irlenbusch, Bernd & Renner, Elke, 2000.
"The moonlighting game: An experimental study on reciprocity and retribution ,"
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization ,
Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 265-277, June.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Iris Bohnet & Robert Cooter, 2001.
"Expressive Law: Framing or Equilibrium Selection? ,"
Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series
1058, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
[Downloadable!]
Frey, Bruno S & Oberholzer-Gee, Felix & Eichenberger, Reiner, 1996.
"The Old Lady Visits Your Backyard: A Tale of Morals and Markets ,"
Journal of Political Economy ,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1297-1313, December.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Ernst Fehr & Armin Falk, 1999.
"Wage Rigidity in a Competitive Incomplete Contract Market ,"
Journal of Political Economy ,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(1), pages 106-134, February.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions: Ted O' Donoghue & Matthew Rabin, 2001.
"Choice and Procrastination ,"
Microeconomics
0012002, EconWPA.
[Downloadable!]
Frey, Bruno S & Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, 1997.
"The Cost of Price Incentives: An Empirical Analysis of Motivation Crowding-Out ,"
American Economic Review ,
American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 746-55, September.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Masclet, D. & Noussair, C. & Tucker, S. & Villeval, M.C., 2001.
"Monetary and Non-monetary Punishment in the Voluntary Contributions Mechanism ,"
Purdue University Economics Working Papers
1141, Purdue University, Department of Economics.
Other versions: Gneezy, Uri & Rustichini, Aldo, 2000.
"A Fine is a Price ,"
Journal of Legal Studies ,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 1-17, January.
Dufwenberg, Martin & Lundholm, Michael, 2001.
"Social Norms and Moral Hazard ,"
Economic Journal ,
Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(473), pages 506-25, July.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Dufwenberg, Martin & Lundholm, Michael, 1997.
"Social Norms and Moral Hazard ,"
Working Paper Series
1997:28, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
[Downloadable!] Dufwenberg, M. & Lundholm, M., 1997.
"Social Norms and Moral Hazard ,"
Papers
1997-28, Uppsala - Working Paper Series.
Jeffrey Carpenter, 2002.
"Punishing Free Riders: how group size affects mutual monitoring and the provision of public goods ,"
Middlebury College Working Paper Series
0206, Middlebury College, Department of Economics.
[Downloadable!]
Other versions:
Carpenter, Jeffrey P., 2004.
"Punishing Free-Riders: How Group Size Affects Mutual Monitoring and the Provision of Public Goods ,"
IZA Discussion Papers
1337, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
[Downloadable!] Carpenter, Jeffrey P., 2007.
"Punishing free-riders: How group size affects mutual monitoring and the provision of public goods ,"
Games and Economic Behavior ,
Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 31-51, July.
[Downloadable!] (restricted) Charness, Gary, 2000.
"Responsibility and effort in an experimental labor market ,"
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization ,
Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 375-384, July.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Uzi Segal & Joel Sobel, 1999.
"Tit for Tat: Foundations of Preferences for Reciprocity in Strategic Settings ,"
UWO Department of Economics Working Papers
9905, University of Western Ontario, Department of Economics.
[Downloadable!]
Other versions:
Uzi Segal & Joel Sobel, 1999.
"Tit for Tat: Foundations of Preferences for Reciprocity in Strategic Settings ,"
University of California at San Diego, Economics Working Paper Series
99-10, Department of Economics, UC San Diego.
[Downloadable!] Segal, Uzi & Sobel, Joel, 2007.
"Tit for tat: Foundations of preferences for reciprocity in strategic settings ,"
Journal of Economic Theory ,
Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 197-216, September.
[Downloadable!] (restricted) Lazear, Edward P, 1989.
"Pay Equality and Industrial Politics ,"
Journal of Political Economy ,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 561-80, June.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
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)
Other versions:
Kandel, E. & Lazear, E.P., 1989.
"Peer Pressure And Partnership ,"
Papers
e-89-5, Stanford - Hoover Institution.
Kandel, E. & Lazear, E.P., 1990.
"Peer Pressure and Partnerships ,"
Papers
90-07, Rochester, Business - Managerial Economics Research Center.
Besley, T. & Coate, S., 1990.
"Understanding Welfare Stigma: Taxpayer Resentment And Statistical Discrimination ,"
Papers
42, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Discussion Paper.
Other versions: Ernst Fehr & Simon Gaechter, .
"Do Incentive Contracts Crowd out Voluntary Cooperation? ,"
IEW - Working Papers
iewwp034, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW.
[Downloadable!]
Other versions: Ted O'Donoghue & Matthew Rabin, 2001.
"Choice And Procrastination ,"
The Quarterly Journal of Economics ,
MIT Press, vol. 116(1), pages 121-160, February.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Benabou, R. & Tirole, J., 2000.
"Self-Confidence and Social Interactions ,"
Papers
210, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
Other versions:
R. Benabou & J. Tirole, 1999.
"Self-Confidence and Social Interactions ,"
Princeton Economic Theory Papers
00s2, Economics Department, Princeton University.
Roland Babou & Jean Tirole, 1999.
"Self-Confidence And Social Interactions ,"
Working Papers
151, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Discussion Papers in Economics..
[Downloadable!] Roland Benabou & Jean Tirole, 2000.
"Self-Confidence and Social Interactions ,"
NBER Working Papers
7585, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
[Downloadable!] (restricted) Rabin, Matthew, 1993.
"Incorporating Fairness into Game Theory and Economics ,"
American Economic Review ,
American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1281-1302, December.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Uri Gneezy & Aldo Rustichini, 2000.
"Pay Enough Or Don'T Pay At All ,"
The Quarterly Journal of Economics ,
MIT Press, vol. 115(3), pages 791-810, August.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Berg Joyce & Dickhaut John & McCabe Kevin, 1995.
"Trust, Reciprocity, and Social History ,"
Games and Economic Behavior ,
Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 122-142, July.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Rehder, Robert R., 1990.
"Japanese transplants: After the honeymoon ,"
Business Horizons ,
Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 87-98.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Iris Bohnet & Bruno S. Frey & Steffen Huck, .
"More Order with Less Law: On Contract Enforcement, Trust, and Crowding ,"
IEW - Working Papers
iewwp052, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW.
[Downloadable!]
van Dijk, Frans & Sonnemans, Joep & van Winden, Frans, 2002.
"Social ties in a public good experiment ,"
Journal of Public Economics ,
Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 275-299, August.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Bernheim, B Douglas, 1994.
"A Theory of Conformity ,"
Journal of Political Economy ,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(5), pages 841-77, October.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Robert Cooter, 1998.
"Expressive Law and Economics ,"
Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series
1051, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
[Downloadable!]
Bewley, Truman F, 1995.
"A Depressed Labor Market as Explained by Participants ,"
American Economic Review ,
American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 250-54, May.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Falk, Armin & Gächter, Simon, 2001.
"Reputation and Reciprocity: Consequences for Labour Relations ,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
3018, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Huck, Steffen & Kübler, Dorothea & Weibull, Jörgen, 2001.
"Social norms and optimal incentives in firms ,"
Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance
466, Stockholm School of Economics.
[Downloadable!]
Other versions: Gachter, Simon & Fehr, Ernst, 1999.
"Collective action as a social exchange ,"
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization ,
Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 341-369, July.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Fehr, Ernst & Schmidt, Klaus M., 2001.
"Theories of Fairness and Reciprocity - Evidence and Economic Applications ,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
2703, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Fehr, Ernst & Schmidt, Klaus M., 2001.
"Theories of Fairness and Reciprocity ,"
Discussion Papers in Economics
14, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
[Downloadable!] Ernst Fehr & Klaus M. Schmidt, .
"Theories of Fairness and Reciprocity - Evidence and Economic Applications ,"
IEW - Working Papers
iewwp075, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW.
[Downloadable!] Ernst Fehr & Klaus Schmidt, 2000.
"Theories of Fairness and Reciprocity -- Evidence and Economic Applications ,"
CESifo Working Paper Series
CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH.
[Downloadable!]
Full
references 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.) This item has more than 25 citations. To prevent cluttering this page, these citations are listed on a separate page .
Access and
download statistics Did you know? Over 800 institutions contribute their bibliographic data directly to this service.
This page was last updated on 2008-8-28.
This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics , College of Liberal Arts and Sciences , University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics .