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Teams and Tournaments in Relational Contracts

Author

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  • Kvaløy, Ola

    (UiS Business School, University of Stavanger)

  • Olsen, Trond E.

    (Dept. of Business and Management Science, Norwegian School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper analyses and compares optimal relational contracts between a principal/firm and a set of agents when (a) only aggregate output can be observed, and (b) individual outputs can be observed. We show that the optimal contract under (a) is a team incentive scheme where each agent is paid a maximal bonus for aggregate output above a threshold and a minimal (no) bonus otherwise. The team’s efficiency decreases with its size (number of agents) when outputs are non-negatively correlated, but may increase considerably with size if outputs are negatively correlated. In the case where individual output can be observed, we show that the optimal contract is a tournament scheme where the conditions for an agent to obtain the (single) bonus are stricter for negatively compared to positively correlated outputs. We finally show that if agents have bargaining power, firms may deliberately choose to organize production as a team where only aggregate output is observable. The team alternative is more likely to be superior under negatively correlated outputs.

Suggested Citation

  • Kvaløy, Ola & Olsen, Trond E., 2013. "Teams and Tournaments in Relational Contracts," Discussion Papers 2013/13, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:nhhfms:2013_013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Hwang, Sunjoo, 2016. "Relational contracts and the first-order approach," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 126-130.
    2. Ola Kvaløy & Trond E. Olsen, 2019. "Relational Contracts, Multiple Agents, and Correlated Outputs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(11), pages 5360-5370, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Relational Contracts; team incentive scheme; tournament;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D00 - Microeconomics - - General - - - General
    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law

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