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Motivation and performance of user-contributors: Evidence from a CQA forum

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  • DeVaro, Jed
  • Kim, Jin-Hyuk
  • Wagman, Liad
  • Wolff, Ran

Abstract

There is an increasing number of Collaborative Question Answering (CQA) websites and a growing reliance of the online community on user-generated content. In this paper, we study users’ motivation to win social recognition contests (best answers) and how multitasking and flexible hours influence the rate of winning contests. Heterogeneity of contest motivation is estimated at the user level in a standard contest framework and used to demonstrate that, for those who are more highly motivated to win contests, multitasking across subjects is associated with a lower performance rate, while flexible hours are associated with a higher performance rate.

Suggested Citation

  • DeVaro, Jed & Kim, Jin-Hyuk & Wagman, Liad & Wolff, Ran, 2018. "Motivation and performance of user-contributors: Evidence from a CQA forum," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 56-65.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:42:y:2018:i:c:p:56-65
    DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2017.08.001
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    2. Maria Marchenko & Hendrik Sonnabend, 2022. "The Never Ending Book: The role of external stimuli and peer feedback in user-generated content production," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp320, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    User-generated content; Crowdsourcing; Contest; Multitasking;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L17 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Open Source Products and Markets
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • M15 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - IT Management

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