Publications [#266000] of Dan Ariely

Journal Articles

1. Ariely, D; Gneezy, U; Loewenstein, G; Mazar, N, Large Stakes and Big Mistakes, The Review of Economic Studies, vol. 76 no. 2 (2009), pp. 451-469, Oxford University Press (OUP) [Gateway.cgi], [doi]
   (last updated on 2024/04/19)

   Abstract:
   Workers in a wide variety of jobs are paid based on performance, which is commonly seen as enhancing effort and productivity relative to non-contingent pay schemes. However, psychological research suggests that excessive rewards can, in some cases, result in a decline in performance. To test whether very high monetary rewards can decrease performance, we conducted a set of experiments in the U.S. and in India in which subjects worked on different tasks and received performance-contingent payments that varied in amount from small to very large relative to their typical levels of pay. With some important exceptions, very high reward levels had a detrimental effect on performance. Copyright , Wiley-Blackwell.