Arbeitspapier

Cooperation in a company: A large-scale experiment

We analyze cooperation within a company setting in order to study the relationship between cooperative attitudes and financial as well as non-financial rewards. In total, 910 employees of a large software company participate in an incentivized online experiment. We observe high levels of cooperation and the typical conditional contribution patterns in a modified public goods game. When linking experiment and company record data, we observe that cooperative attitudes of employees do not pay off in terms of financial rewards within the company. Rather, cooperative employees receive non-financial benefits such as recognition or friendship as the main reward medium. In contrast to most studies in the experimental laboratory, sustained levels of cooperation in our company setting relate to non-financial values of cooperation rather than solely to financial incentives.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: IHS Working Paper ; No. 15

Classification
Wirtschaft
Field Experiments
Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
Public Goods
Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
Personnel Economics: Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects
Subject
cooperation
social dilemma
field experiment
company

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Deversi, Marvin
Kocher, Martin
Schwieren, Christiane
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Institut für Höhere Studien - Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS)
(where)
Vienna
(when)
2020

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Deversi, Marvin
  • Kocher, Martin
  • Schwieren, Christiane
  • Institut für Höhere Studien - Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS)

Time of origin

  • 2020

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