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Helping in Teams

Author

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  • Danilov, Anastasia

    (University of Cologne)

  • Harbring, Christine

    (RWTH Aachen University)

  • Irlenbusch, Bernd

    (University of Cologne)

Abstract

We study, how help can be fostered under relative rewards by means of team bonus and corporate value statements. A simple model analysis suggests that team members help less as relative rewards increase. As one potential measure to encourage help, we augment relative rewards with team rewards determined by the output of the whole team. This theoretical benchmark is tested in an experiment. Furthermore, we provide the first clean one-shot experimental test of the Lazear and Rosen (1981) tournament model. In a second experiment, we investigate the effectiveness of corporate value statements to encourage help.

Suggested Citation

  • Danilov, Anastasia & Harbring, Christine & Irlenbusch, Bernd, 2014. "Helping in Teams," IZA Discussion Papers 8707, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8707
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Grund & Tanja Hofmann, 2019. "The dispersion of bonus payments within and between firms," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 417-445, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    help; relative rewards; team incentives; corporate value statements; experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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