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Your Loss Is My Gain: A Recruitment Experiment with Framed Incentives

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  • Jonathan de Quidt
Abstract
As predicted by loss aversion, numerous studies find that penalties elicit greater effort than bonuses, even when the underlying payoffs are identical. However, loss aversion also predicts that workers will demand higher wages to accept penalty contracts. In six experiments I recruited workers online under framed incentive contracts to test the second prediction. None find evidence for the predicted distaste for penalty contracts. In four experiments penalty framing actually increased the job offer acceptance rate relative to bonus framing. I rule out a number of explanations, most notably self-commitment motives do not seem to explain the finding. Two experiments that manipulate salience are successful at eliminating the effect, but do not significantly reverse it. Overall, loss aversion seems to play surprisingly little role in this setting. The results also highlight the importance of behavioral biases for infrequent, binding decisions such as contract take-up.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan de Quidt, 2018. "Your Loss Is My Gain: A Recruitment Experiment with Framed Incentives," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 522-559.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:16:y:2018:i:2:p:522-559.
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    1. Ispano, Alessandro & Schwardmann, Peter, 2017. "Cooperating over losses and competing over gains: A social dilemma experiment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 329-348.
    2. Alex Imas & Sally Sadoff & Anya Samek, 2017. "Do People Anticipate Loss Aversion?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(5), pages 1271-1284, May.
    3. Solomon Balew & Erwin Bulte & Zewdu Abro & Menale Kassie, 2023. "Incentivizing and nudging farmers to spread information: Experimental evidence from Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(3), pages 994-1010, May.
    4. Taisuke Imai & Klaus M. Schmidt, 2023. "Loss Aversion," ISER Discussion Paper 1218, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    5. Cala, Petr & Havranek, Tomas & Irsova, Zuzana & Matousek, Jindrich & Novak, Jiri, 2022. "Financial Incentives and Performance: A Meta-Analysis of Economics Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 17680, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. John List, 2020. "Experimental tests of the endowment effect and the Coase theorem," Natural Field Experiments 00687, The Field Experiments Website.
    7. Bauhoff,Sebastian Peter Alexander & Kandpal,Eeshani, 2021. "Information, Loss Framing, and Spillovers in Pay-for-Performance Contracts," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9687, The World Bank.
    8. Robert Hahn & Robert D. Metcalfe & David Novgorodsky & Michael K. Price, 2016. "The Behavioralist as Policy Designer: The Need to Test Multiple Treatments to Meet Multiple Targets," Experimental Economics Center Working Paper Series 2016-05, Experimental Economics Center, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    9. Dohmen, Thomas & Non, Arjan & Stolp, Tom, 2021. "Reference points and the tradeoff between risk and incentives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 813-831.
    10. Brice Corgnet & Roberto Hernán-González, 2019. "Revisiting the Trade-off Between Risk and Incentives: The Shocking Effect of Random Shocks?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(3), pages 1096-1114, March.
    11. Bulte, Erwin & List, John A. & van Soest, Daan, 2021. "Incentive spillovers in the workplace: Evidence from two field experiments," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 137-149.
    12. Alasdair Brown & Fuyu Yang, 2021. "Framing effects and the market selection hypothesis: Evidence from real‐world isomorphic bets," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(1), pages 399-413, July.
    13. Francesco Fallucchi & Marc Kaufmann, 2021. "Narrow Bracketing in Work Choices," Papers 2101.04529, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2021.
    14. Jonathan Quidt & Francesco Fallucchi & Felix Kölle & Daniele Nosenzo & Simone Quercia, 2017. "Bonus versus penalty: How robust are the effects of contract framing?," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 3(2), pages 174-182, December.
    15. Paul J. Ferraro & J. Dustin Tracy, 2022. "A reassessment of the potential for loss-framed incentive contracts to increase productivity: a meta-analysis and a real-effort experiment," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(5), pages 1441-1466, November.
    16. Erwin Bulte & John List & Daan van Soest, 2019. "Toward an Understanding of the Welfare Effects of Nudges: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Uganda," Natural Field Experiments 00674, The Field Experiments Website.
    17. De Paola, Maria & Gioia, Francesca & Pupo, Valeria, 2020. "Selection and Incentives under Time Pressure: The Importance of Framing," IZA Discussion Papers 13474, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Stephan Tontrup & Christopher Jon Sprigman, 2022. "Self‐nudging contracts and the positive effects of autonomy—Analyzing the prospect of behavioral self‐management," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 594-676, September.
    19. Daniele Nosenzo, 2016. "Employee incentives: Bonuses or penalties?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 234-234, January.
    20. Ahrens, Steffen & Bitter, Lea & Bosch-Rosa, Ciril, 2023. "Coordination under loss contracts," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 270-293.
    21. von Bieberstein, Frauke & Essl, Andrea & Friedrich, Kathrin, 2020. "Gain versus loss contracts: Does contract framing affect agents’ reciprocity?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    22. Essl, Andrea & Jaussi, Stefanie, 2017. "Choking under time pressure: The influence of deadline-dependent bonus and malus incentive schemes on performance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 127-137.
    23. Taisuke Imai & Klaus Schmidt, 2023. "Loss Aversion," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 461, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    24. Sebastian Fest & Ola Kvaløy & Petra Nieken & Anja Schöttner, 2019. "Motivation and incentives in an online labor market," CESifo Working Paper Series 7526, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law

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