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Productivity, wages and intrinsic motivation in social enterprises

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  • Becchetti, Leonardo

    (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit)

  • Castriota, Stefano

    (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit)

  • Tortia, Ermanno

    (Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit)

Abstract

In our empirical analysis of wage differentials in a sample of workers in the cooperative not for profit sector we find that, consistently with the donative-labor hypothesis, more intrinsically motivated workers “donate more work” (unpaid overtime, arrear holidays) but are also more productive and earn significantly higher wages. Our results are robust to several measures of workers’ remuneration and controlled for endogeneity. We interpret these findings by arguing that the hypothesis of the static negative correlation between intrinsic motivations and wages (where intrinsic motivations work as a compensating differential) is dominated by the effect by which intrinsic motivations cause or are a signal of higher productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Becchetti, Leonardo & Castriota, Stefano & Tortia, Ermanno, 2009. "Productivity, wages and intrinsic motivation in social enterprises," AICCON Working Papers 66-2009, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:aiccon:2009_066
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Simona Monteleone & Francesco Reito, 2018. "Cooperative firms in hard times," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 171-179, June.
    2. Sacchetti, Silvia & Tortia, Ermanno, 2013. "The Silver Lining Of Cooperation," AICCON Working Papers 125-2013, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    3. Silvia Sacchetti & Ermanno Tortia, 2013. "Satisfaction with Creativity: A Study of Organizational Characteristics and Individual Motivation," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(6), pages 1789-1811, December.
    4. Barigozzi, Francesca & Raggi, Davide, 2013. "The Lemons Problem in a Labor Market with Intrinsic Motivation," AICCON Working Papers 123-2013, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    5. Bruna BRUNO & Damiano FIORILLO, 2016. "Voluntary Work And Wages," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(2), pages 175-202, December.
    6. F. Barigozzi & N. Burani & D. Raggi, 2013. "The Lemons Problem in a Labor Market with Intrinsic Motivation. When Higher Salaries Pay Worse Workers," Working Papers wp883, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    7. Sacchetti, Silvia & Tortia, Ermanno, 2012. "The internal and external governance of cooperatives: the effective membership and consistency of value," AICCON Working Papers 111-2012, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    8. Fabio Sabatini & Francesca Modena & Ermanno Tortia, 2014. "Do cooperative enterprises create social trust?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 621-641, March.
    9. Vera Negri Zamagni, 2012. "Interpreting the Roles and Economic Importance of Cooperative Enterprises in a Historical Perspective," Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organizational Diversity, European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, vol. 1(1), pages 21-36, December.
    10. Margherita Scarlato, 2012. "Social Enterprise and Development Policy: Evidence from Italy," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 24-49, March.
    11. Vera Negri Zamagni, 2011. "The Co-operative Enterprise: A Remaining of the Past or a Proposal for a Better Society?," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 2, June.
    12. Solferino, Nazaria & Solferino, Viviana, 2016. "The Corporate Social Responsibility is just a twist in a Möbius strip," Economics Discussion Papers 2016-12, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    13. Silvia Sacchetti & Ermanno C. Tortia, 2014. "A human growth perspective on organizational resources, worker satisfaction and firm performance," Euricse Working Papers 1466, Euricse (European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises).
    14. Silvia Sacchetti & Ermanno C. Tortia, 2013. "The Internal and External Governance of Cooperatives: Membership and Consistency of Values," Euricse Working Papers 1362, Euricse (European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises).
    15. Silvia Sacchetti & Ermanno C. Tortia, 2010. "A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR THE ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF COOPERATIVE FIRMS: Self-defined rules, common resources, motivations, and incentives," Econometica Working Papers wp21, Econometica.
    16. Lopez Arceiz, Francisco & Solferino, Nazaria & Solferino, Viviana & Tortia, Ermanno C., 2016. "Corporate social responsibility is just a twist in a Möbius Strip: An empirical test on Italian cooperatives," MPRA Paper 74776, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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