Knowing that You Matter, Matters! The Interplay of Meaning, Monetary Incentives, and Worker Recognition

Arbeitspapier

We manipulate workers' perceived meaning of a job in a field experiment. Half of the workers are informed that their job is important, the other half are told that their job is of no relevance. Results show that workers exert more effort when meaning is high, corroborating previous findings on the relationship between meaning and work effort. We then compare the effect of meaning to the effect of monetary incentives and of worker recognition via symbolic awards. We also look at interaction effects. While meaning outperforms monetary incentives, the latter have a robust positive effect on performance that is independent of meaning. In contrast, meaning and recognition have largely similar effects but interact negatively. Our results are in line with image-reward theory (Benabou and Tirole 2006) and suggest that meaning and worker recognition operate via the same channel, namely image seeking.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper ; No. 14-043/VII

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Field Experiments ; Compensation Packages; Payment Methods ; Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation ; Personnel Economics: Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects
• Subject: Meaning ; monetary incentives ; worker recognition ; field experiment

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Kosfeld, Michael ; Neckermann, Susanne ; Yang, Xiaolan
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Tinbergen Institute
• (where): Amsterdam and Rotterdam
• (when): 2014

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/98914
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET