IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hcx/wpaper/1304.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Workers' Responses to Incentives: The Case of Pending MLB Free Agents

Author

Listed:
  • Joshua Congdon-Hohman

    (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross)

  • Jonathan A. Lanning

    (Department of Economics, Bryn Mawr)

Abstract

This study examines ways in which workers respond to implicit incentives. Specifically, we examine the extent to which workers shift their effort to activities that are measured and which have been previously rewarded in the labor market. To examine this question, we examine the changes in the performance measures of professional baseball players in the season prior to the opportunity to freely negotiate their contract (free agency). We will examine different eras in baseball to examine if we can identify changes in behavior in this pivotal year based on changes to the current premium outputs for each time period.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua Congdon-Hohman & Jonathan A. Lanning, 2013. "Workers' Responses to Incentives: The Case of Pending MLB Free Agents," Working Papers 1304, College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hcx:wpaper:1304
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hcapps.holycross.edu/hcs/RePEc/hcx/HC1304-Congdon-Lanning_FreeAgents.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paarsch, Harry J & Shearer, Bruce, 2000. "Piece Rates, Fixed Wages, and Incentive Effects: Statistical Evidence from Payroll Records," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 41(1), pages 59-92, February.
    2. Lazear, Edward P, 1986. "Salaries and Piece Rates," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(3), pages 405-431, July.
    3. Mark D. Woolway, 1997. "Using an Empirically Estimated Production Function for Major League Baseball to Examine Worker Disincentives Associated with Multi-Year Contracts," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 41(2), pages 77-83, October.
    4. Kevin J. Stiroh, 2007. "Playing For Keeps: Pay And Performance In The Nba," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(1), pages 145-161, January.
    5. Bruce Shearer, 2004. "Piece Rates, Fixed Wages and Incentives: Evidence from a Field Experiment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(2), pages 513-534.
    6. John D. Burger & Stephen J. K. Walters, 2003. "Market Size, Pay, and Performance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 4(2), pages 108-125, May.
    7. David J. Berri & Anthony C. Krautmann, 2006. "Shirking on the Court: Testing for the Incentive Effects of Guaranteed Pay," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 536-546, July.
    8. Jensen, Michael C & Murphy, Kevin J, 1990. "Performance Pay and Top-Management Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 225-264, April.
    9. John M. Abowd, 1990. "Does Performance-Based Managerial Compensation Affect Corporate Performance?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 43(3), pages 52, April.
    10. Joel G. Maxcy & Rodney D. Fort & Anthony C. Krautmann, 2002. "The Effectiveness of Incentive Mechanisms in Major League Baseball," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 3(3), pages 246-255, August.
    11. Scully, Gerald W, 1974. "Pay and Performance in Major League Baseball," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 64(6), pages 915-930, December.
    12. Heywood, John S. & Wei, Xiangdong & Ye, Guangliang, 2011. "Piece rates for professors," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 113(3), pages 285-287.
    13. Edward P. Lazear, 2000. "Performance Pay and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1346-1361, December.
    14. Daniel Brown & Charles R. Link, 2008. "Population and Bandwagon Effects on Local Team Revenues in Major League Baseball," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(5), pages 470-487, October.
    15. Anthony Krautmann, 2009. "Market size and the demand for talent in major league baseball," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(25), pages 3267-3273.
    16. Anthony C. Krautmann & John L. Solow, 2009. "The Dynamics of Performance Over the Duration of Major League Baseball Long-Term Contracts," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 10(1), pages 6-22, February.
    17. Rosen, Sherwin, 1974. "Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Product Differentiation in Pure Competition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(1), pages 34-55, Jan.-Feb..
    18. Anthony C. Krautmann & Thomas D. Donley, 2009. "Shirking in Major League Baseball Revisited," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 10(3), pages 292-304, June.
    19. Jahn K. Hakes & Raymond D. Sauer, 2006. "An Economic Evaluation of the Moneyball Hypothesis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 173-186, Summer.
    20. Kaplan, Steven N, 1994. "Top Executive Rewards and Firm Performance: A Comparison of Japan and the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(3), pages 510-546, June.
    21. Lawrence M. Kahn, 2000. "The Sports Business as a Labor Market Laboratory," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 75-94, Summer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Joshua M. Congdon-Hohman & Jonathan A. Lanning, 2018. "Beyond Moneyball," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(7), pages 1046-1061, October.
    2. Kevin J. Stiroh, 2007. "Playing For Keeps: Pay And Performance In The Nba," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(1), pages 145-161, January.
    3. Joshua D. Pitts & Brent A. Evans, 2023. "New contracts and dismissal threats from highly drafted rookies: What motivates NFL quarterbacks?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 4-16, January.
    4. Fumarco, Luca & Longley, Neil & Palermo, Alberto & Rossi, Giambattista, 2024. "Strategic Behaviours in a Labour Market with Mobility-Restricting Contractual Provisions: Evidence from the National Hockey League," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1401, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Daniel Weimar & Katrin Scharfenkamp, 2019. "Effort reduction of employer‐to‐employer changers: Empirical evidence from football," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 277-291, April.
    6. Baktash, Mehrzad B. & Heywood, John S. & Jirjahn, Uwe, 2022. "Worker stress and performance pay: German survey evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 276-291.
    7. Furmaco, L. & Longley, N. & Palermo, A. & Rossi, G., 2021. "Employees’ Performance Variation over Fixed-Term Contracts - Evidence from the National Hockey League," Working Papers 2107, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    8. Felipe Balmaceda, 2004. "Uncertainty, Pay for Performance and Adverse Selection in a Competitive Labor Market," Documentos de Trabajo 196, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.
    9. Bellemare, Charles & Lepage, Patrick & Shearer, Bruce, 2010. "Peer pressure, incentives, and gender: An experimental analysis of motivation in the workplace," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 276-283, January.
    10. Daniel Jones & Mirco Tonin & Michael Vlassopoulos, 2018. "Paying for what kind of Performance? Performance Pay and Multitasking in Mission-Oriented Jobs," CESifo Working Paper Series 7156, CESifo.
    11. Selay Sahan & Euan Phimister, 2022. "Worker Incentives in the Banking Industry," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 259-284, April.
    12. Jean-Louis Bago & Bruce Shearer, 2022. "Risk preferences and contract choices," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(5), pages 1374-1398, November.
    13. 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.
    14. Benno Torgler & Markus Schaffner & Bruno S. Frey & Sascha L. Schmidt & Uwe Dulleck, 2008. "Inequality Aversion and Performance in and on the Field," CREMA Working Paper Series 2008-18, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    15. Rodney Fort & Young Hoon Lee & Taeyeon Oh, 2019. "Quantile Insights on Market Structure and Worker Salaries: The Case of Major League Baseball," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(8), pages 1066-1087, December.
    16. Reio Tanji, 2021. "Reference Dependence and Monetary Incentives: Evidence from Major League Baseball," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 20-23, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    17. Edward P. Lazear & Kathryn L. Shaw, 2007. "Personnel Economics: The Economist's View of Human Resources," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(4), pages 91-114, Fall.
    18. Román, Francisco J., 2009. "An analysis of changes to a team-based incentive plan and its effects on productivity, product quality, and absenteeism," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 589-618, July.
    19. David J. Berri & John Charles Bradbury, 2010. "Working in the Land of the Metricians," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 11(1), pages 29-47, February.
    20. Benno Torgler & Markus Schaffner & Sascha L. Schmidt & Bruno S. Frey, 2008. "Do Employees Care about their Relative Position? Behavioural Evidence Focusing on Performance," CREMA Working Paper Series 2008-12, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agency theory; strategic performance; opportunistic behavior; baseball;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hcx:wpaper:1304. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Victor Matheson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deholus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.