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Leadership with individual rewards and punishments

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  • Gürerk, Özgür
  • Lauer, Thomas
  • Scheuermann, Martin

Abstract

Leading by example is considered an important means to influence followers. In most organizations, however, to influence followers, leaders use a variety of instruments. Most frequently, leaders possess the power to administer rewards or punishments to team members. Do individual rewards or punishments reinforce the impact of leading by example on team members’ contributions? Because of confounding factors, it is difficult to research leading by example using field data. Here, we investigate the effects of leading by example and the effect of rewards or punishments on contributions in controlled lab experiments. We find that both rewards and punishments are more effective in fostering contributions than leading by example as such. When leading by example comes together with reward or punishment power, it does not improve on the effects of rewards or punishments as such in increasing contributions.

Suggested Citation

  • Gürerk, Özgür & Lauer, Thomas & Scheuermann, Martin, 2018. "Leadership with individual rewards and punishments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 57-69.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:74:y:2018:i:c:p:57-69
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2018.03.007
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    Cited by:

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    2. Drouvelis, Michalis & Nosenzo, Daniele & Sefton, Martin, 2017. "Team incentives and leadership," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 173-185.
    3. Sohn, Jin-yeong & Jang, Dooseok, 2024. "On the effectiveness of leading by example in public goods games," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 266-281.
    4. Vakili Atena Mirhosseini & Salajegheh Sanjar & Sayadi Saeed & Pourkiani Masoud, 2022. "Rewards from the Perspective of Employees and Managers," Management Theory and Studies for Rural Business and Infrastructure Development, Sciendo, vol. 44(1), pages 31-38, March.
    5. Jing Yu & Martin G. Kocher, 2023. "Leading by example in a public goods experiment with benefit heterogeneity," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 61(3), pages 685-712, October.
    6. Roy, Moumita & Houser, Daniel, 2024. "Identity, Leadership, and Cooperation: An experimental analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    7. Mario Daniele Amore & Orsola Garofalo & Alice Guerra, 2023. "How Leaders Influence (un)Ethical Behaviors Within Organizations: A Laboratory Experiment on Reporting Choices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(2), pages 495-510, March.
    8. Billinger, Stephan & Rosenbaum, Stephen Mark, 2023. "On the limits of hierarchy in public goods games: A survey and meta-analysis on the effects of design variables on cooperation," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    9. Esther Pagán-Castaño & Javier Sánchez-García & Fernando J. Garrigos-Simon & María Guijarro-García, 2021. "The Influence of Management on Teacher Well-Being and the Development of Sustainable Schools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-23, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Leadership; Incentives; Punishment; Reward; Leading by example; Public goods;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics

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