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An Empirical Investigation of Gaming Responses to Performance Incentives

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  • Gerald Marschke
  • Pascal Courty

Abstract

This paper studies a particular kind of gaming responses to explicit incentives in a large government organization. The gaming responses we consider occur when agents strategically report their performance outcomes to maximize their awards. An important contribution of this work is to examine whether this behavior diverts resources (e.g. agents' time) from productive activities or whether it simply reflects an accounting phenomenon. We evaluate the efficiency impact of the behavior we identify and find that it has a negative impact on the true goal of the organization.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerald Marschke & Pascal Courty, 2000. "An Empirical Investigation of Gaming Responses to Performance Incentives," Discussion Papers 00-12, University at Albany, SUNY, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:nya:albaec:00-12
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    File URL: http://www.albany.edu/economics/research/workingp/2000/paper00-12.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Gerald Marschke, 2010. "Incentives and their dynamics in public sector performance management systems," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 183-208.
    2. Bloom, Nicholas & Van Reenen, John, 2011. "Human Resource Management and Productivity," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 19, pages 1697-1767, Elsevier.
    3. Finn Christensen & James Manley & Louise Laurence, 2010. "The Allocation of Merit Pay in Academia," Working Papers 2010-13, Towson University, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2010.
    4. Carolyn Heinrich, 2008. "False or Fitting Recognition? The Use of High Performance Bonuses in Motivating Organizational Achievements," Public administration issues, Higher School of Economics, issue 4, pages 72-104.
    5. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Laurence E. Lynn Jr., 1999. "Governance And Performance: The Influence of Program Structure and Management on Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Program Outcomes," JCPR Working Papers 107, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    6. Nicholas Bloom & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Recent Advances in the Empirics of Organizational Economics," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 105-137, September.
    7. Simon Burgess & Marisa Ratto, 2003. "The Role of Incentives in the Public Sector: Issues and Evidence," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 03/071, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    8. Carolyn J. Heinrich, 2000. "Organizational form and performance: An empirical investigation of nonprofit and for-profit job-training service providers," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 233-261.
    9. Pierre Koning & C.J. Heinrich, 2009. "Cream-skimming, parking and other intended and unintended effects of performance-based contracting in social welfare services," CPB Discussion Paper 134, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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