Cooperation in a Company: A Large-Scale Experiment

Arbeitspapier

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.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 8190

Classification and Topics

• 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

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Deversi, Marvin ; Kocher, Martin G. ; Schwieren, Christiane
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
• (where): Munich
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/216586
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET