Task assignment as dynamic incentives

We study repeated assignment of a task among workers as an incentive instrument for effort. Unlike traditional instruments, task assignment is inseparable from production and rivalrous: it both provides incentives and determines who produces, while necessarily excluding others. We show that workers are optimally assigned the task through a strict, evolving priority ranking. In every continuation, workers' expected average workloads differ, even when they are technologically independent and symmetric in all aspects. Consequently, our results highlight that the efficiency-equality tension is more pervasive than previously recognized. We further examine design instruments that expand the scope of efficiency without aggravating worker inequality.\bigskip