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Was There a Hawthorne Effect?

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  • Stephen R G Jones

Abstract

The "Hawthorne Effect" has been the most enduring legacy of the celebrated studies of workplace behaviour conducted in the 1920's and the 1930's at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric company. Paradoxically, it is not clear that this effect constituted more than an incidental and intermediate finding for the original researchers. This paper examines the empirical evidence for Hawthorne effects using the original data from the Hawthorne Relay Assembly Test Room, where a group of workers was closely studied, with a variety of experimental and other changes in th work environment, over a period of more than 5 years. Using both narrow and broad definitions of an experimental change and allowing for other factors and for potential interdependance of the owrkers' output levels, I assess whether such experimental changes had a common effect that could be regarded as a pure result of the experimentation. The main conclusion is that there is only a slender evidence of a Hawthorne effect in the Hawthorne Relay Assembly Test Room.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen R G Jones, 1991. "Was There a Hawthorne Effect?," Department of Economics Working Papers 1991-01, McMaster University.
    • Handle: RePEc:mcm:deptwp:1991-01
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    File URL: http://socserv.socsci.mcmaster.ca/econ/rsrch/papers/archive/91-01.pdf
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    2. Fiore, Annamaria, 2009. "Experimental Economics: Some Methodological Notes," MPRA Paper 12498, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Shogren, Jason F., 2006. "Experimental Methods and Valuation," Handbook of Environmental Economics, in: K. G. Mäler & J. R. Vincent (ed.), Handbook of Environmental Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 19, pages 969-1027, Elsevier.
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    5. Paarsch, Harry J. & Shearer, Bruce S., 2007. "Do women react differently to incentives? Evidence from experimental data and payroll records," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(7), pages 1682-1707, October.
    6. Steven D. Levitt & John A. List, 2011. "Was There Really a Hawthorne Effect at the Hawthorne Plant? An Analysis of the Original Illumination Experiments," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 224-238, January.
    7. Charness, Gary & Kuhn, Peter, 2011. "Lab Labor: What Can Labor Economists Learn from the Lab?," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 3, pages 229-330, Elsevier.
    8. Leonard, Kenneth L. & Masatu, Melkiory C., 2010. "Using the Hawthorne effect to examine the gap between a doctor's best possible practice and actual performance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 226-234, November.
    9. Christopher J. O'Leary, 2004. "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Labor Exchange Services," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: David E. Balducchi & Randall W. Eberts & Christopher J. O'Leary (ed.), Labor Exchange Policy in the United States, chapter 5, pages 135-178, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    10. Daniel Zizzo, 2010. "Experimenter demand effects in economic experiments," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 13(1), pages 75-98, March.
    11. Lopez Barrera, E., 2018. "Hispanics immigrants in the fields: is discrimination a barrier to get non-agricultural jobs?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276016, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Lopez Barrera, Emiliano & Murguia, Juan M., 2015. "Hispanic Job-Seekers outside the fields: are they discriminated?," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 206034, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Pierre Labardin, 2011. "Des usages du passé en gestion," Post-Print halshs-00655214, HAL.
    14. Kluver, Jesse & Frazier, Rebecca & Haidt, Jonathan, 2014. "Behavioral ethics for Homo economicus, Homo heuristicus, and Homo duplex," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 150-158.

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