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Personality Traits and Performance Contracts: Evidence from a Field Experiment among Maternity Care Providers in India

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  • Katherine Donato
  • Grant Miller
  • Manoj Mohanan
  • Yulya Truskinovsky
  • Marcos Vera-Hernández

Abstract

We study how agents respond to performance incentives according to key personality traits (conscientiousness and neuroticism) through a field experiment offering financial incentives for improving maternal and neonatal health outcomes to rural Indian doctors. More conscientious providers performed better--but improved less--under performance incentives. The effect of the performance incentives was also smaller for providers with higher levels of neuroticism. Our results contribute to a growing body of empirical research on heterogeneous responses to incentives and have implications for worker selection.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine Donato & Grant Miller & Manoj Mohanan & Yulya Truskinovsky & Marcos Vera-Hernández, 2017. "Personality Traits and Performance Contracts: Evidence from a Field Experiment among Maternity Care Providers in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 506-510, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:107:y:2017:i:5:p:506-10
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171105
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sebastian Butschek & Roberto González Amor & Patrick Kampkötter & Dirk Sliwka, 2019. "Paying Gig Workers - Evidence from a Field Experiment," CESifo Working Paper Series 7983, CESifo.
    2. Brosig-Koch, Jeannette & Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Kairies-Schwarz, Nadja & Kokot, Johanna & Wiesen, Daniel, 2024. "A new look at physicians’ responses to financial incentives: Quality of care, practice characteristics, and motivations," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Heike Hennig‐Schmidt & Hendrik Jürges & Daniel Wiesen, 2019. "Dishonesty in health care practice: A behavioral experiment on upcoding in neonatology," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 319-338, March.
    4. Ngo, Diana K.L. & Bauhoff, Sebastian, 2021. "The medium-run and scale-up effects of performance-based financing: An extension of Rwanda’s 2006 trial using secondary data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Brencic, Vera & McGee, Andrew, 2023. "Employers’ Demand for Personality Traits and Provision of Incentives," Working Papers 2023-14, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    6. Andor, Mark Andreas & Grossmann, Igor & Hönow, Nils Christian & Tomberg, Lukas, 2023. "Wisdom and prosocial behavior," Ruhr Economic Papers 1054, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    7. Kerstin Eilermann & Katrin Halstenberg & Ludwig Kuntz & Kyriakos Martakis & Bernhard Roth & Daniel Wiesen, 2019. "The Effect of Expert Feedback on Antibiotic Prescribing in Pediatrics: Experimental Evidence," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 39(7), pages 781-795, October.
    8. Zvonimir Bašić & Stefania Bortolotti & Daniel Salicath & Stefan Schmidt & Sebastian Schneider & Matthias Sutter, 2024. "One size fits all? The interplay of incentives, effort provision, and personality," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2024_13, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    9. Manoj Mohanan & Katherine Donato & Grant Miller & Yulya Truskinovsky & Marcos Vera-Hernández, 2021. "Different Strokes for Different Folks? Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Input and Output Incentive Contracts for Health Care Providers with Varying Skills," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 34-69, October.
    10. Brosig-Koch, Jeannette & Groß, Mona & Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Kairies-Schwarz, Nadja & Wiesen, Daniel, 2021. "Physicians' incentives, patients' characteristics, and quality of care: A systematic experimental comparison of fee-for-service, capitation, and pay for performance," Ruhr Economic Papers 923, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    11. Butschek, Sebastian & González Amor, Roberto & Kampkötter, Patrick & Sliwka, Dirk, 2022. "Motivating gig workers – evidence from a field experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Cai, Weicheng & Zhou, Yi, 2022. "Men smoke less under the COVID-19 closure policies: The role of altruism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    13. Saskia Opitz & Dirk Sliwka & Timo Vogelsang & Tom Zimmermann, 2022. "The Targeted Assignment of Incentive Schemes," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 187, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    14. James Habyarimana & Stuti Khemani & Thiago Scot, 2023. "The importance of political selection for bureaucratic effectiveness," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(359), pages 746-779, July.
    15. Justine Herve & Helene Purcell & Subha Mani, 2023. "Conscientiousness Matters: How does Personality affect Labor Market Outcomes?," Fordham Economics Discussion Paper Series dp2023-05er:dp2023-05, Fordham University, Department of Economics.
    16. Brosig-Koch, Jeannette & Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Kairies-Schwarz, Nadja & Kokot, Johanna & Wiesen, Daniel, 2020. "Physician performance pay: Experimental evidence," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2020:3, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.
    17. Qian, Chen & Antonides, Gerrit & Heerink, Nico & Zhu, Xueqin & Ma, Xianlei, 2022. "An economic-psychological perspective on perceived land tenure security: Evidence from rural eastern China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    18. Brenčič, Vera & McGee, Andrew, 2023. "Employers' Demand for Personality Traits," IZA Discussion Papers 16083, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Qian, Chen & Li, Fan & Antonides, Gerrit & Heerink, Nico & Ma, Xianlei & Li, Xiande, 2020. "Effect of personality traits on smallholders’ land renting behavior: Theory and evidence from the North China Plain," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    20. Groß, Mona & Hennig-Schmidt, Heike & Wiesen, Daniel, 2023. "Personality and physician performance pay: Evidence from a behavioral experiment in health," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2023:5, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.
    21. An Huang & Paulo Santos, 2022. "Improving the reliability and validity of data on Big Five personality traits in developing countries," Monash Economics Working Papers 2022-04, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    22. Dirk Sliwka, 2020. "Bonuses and performance evaluations," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 478-478, July.
    23. Eilermann, Kerstin & Halstenberg, Katrin & Kuntz, Ludwig & Martakis, Kyriakos & Roth, Bernhard & Wiesen, Daniel, 2019. "The Effect of Expert Feedback on Antibiotic Prescribing in Pediatrics: Experimental Evidence," HERO Online Working Paper Series 2020:1, University of Oslo, Health Economics Research Programme.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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