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Performance Pay and Adverse Selection

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  • Espen R. Moen
  • Åsa Rosén

Abstract

It is well known in personnel economics that firms may improve the quality of their workforce by offering performance pay. We analyze an equilibrium model where worker productivity is private information and show that the firms’ gain from worker self‐selection may not be matched by a corresponding social gain. In particular, the equilibrium incentive contracts are excessively high‐powered, thereby inducing the more productive workers to exert too much effort and increasing agency costs stemming from the misallocation of effort.

Suggested Citation

  • Espen R. Moen & Åsa Rosén, 2005. "Performance Pay and Adverse Selection," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 107(2), pages 279-298, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:107:y:2005:i:2:p:279-298
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9442.2005.00408.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Roland Bénabou & Jean Tirole, 2016. "Bonus Culture: Competitive Pay, Screening, and Multitasking," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(2), pages 305-370.
    2. Josse Delfgaauw & Robert Dur, 2008. "Incentives and Workers' Motivation in the Public Sector," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(525), pages 171-191, January.
    3. Cornelissen, Thomas & Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2011. "Performance pay, risk attitudes and job satisfaction," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 229-239, April.
    4. Bannier, Christina E. & Feess, Eberhard & Packham, Natalie, 2014. "Incentive schemes, private information and the double-edged role of competition for agents," CFS Working Paper Series 475, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    5. Thiele, Veikko, 2007. "Task-Specific Abilities in Multi-Task Agency Relations," MPRA Paper 2470, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Javier Fernández‐Blanco & Pedro Gomes, 2017. "Unobserved Heterogeneity, Exit Rates, and Re‐Employment Wages," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(2), pages 375-404, April.
    7. Byunghyun Lee & Changjae Lee & Ilyoung Choi & Jaekyeong Kim, 2022. "Analyzing Determinants of Job Satisfaction Based on Two-Factor Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, October.
    8. Ernesto Reuben & Matthew Wiswall & Basit Zafar, 2017. "Preferences and Biases in Educational Choices and Labour Market Expectations: Shrinking the Black Box of Gender," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(604), pages 2153-2186, September.
    9. Anne Beyer & Ilan Guttman & Iván Marinovic, 2014. "Optimal Contracts with Performance Manipulation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 817-847, September.
    10. Bryson, Alex & Dale-Olsen, Harald, 2024. "Job Search, Efficiency Wages and Taxes," IZA Discussion Papers 17385, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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