The Heterogeneous Effects of Bonus Pay on Performance Outcomes: Evidence from Personnel Data

Konferenzbeitrag

This study uses rich information on performance outcomes to estimate the effect of bonus pay on worker productivity. We use a policy discontinuity in the call centre of a multi-national telephone company in which management introduced monetary bonuses upon achieving pre-defined performance thresholds. The results show that the bonus is associated with an increase of a third of a standard deviation in the underlying performance outcome. This effect is mostly driven by low-ability agents whose performance improvement is about three times as large as for the average worker. Conversely, the treatment effect for high-ability agents is even negative. Furthermore, we find that other, non-incentivised performance outcomes are positively affected.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2014: Evidenzbasierte Wirtschaftspolitik - Session: Firms and Wages ; No. D02-V3

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Compensation Packages; Payment Methods ; Personnel Economics: Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects ; Telecommunications

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Sauermann, Jan
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft
• (where): Kiel und Hamburg
• (when): 2014

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/100568
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET