Unequal Incentives and Perceived Fairness in Groups
Incentives shape how much people contribute to the welfare of a group. These incentives do not restrict the opportunities but they change the costs of contributions. This paper studies how the random assignment of such incentives affects perceived distributive justice among group members. Do people...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-09-01
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| Series: | Games |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/9/3/71 |
| _version_ | 1828499235498098688 |
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| author | Gerald Eisenkopf |
| author_facet | Gerald Eisenkopf |
| author_sort | Gerald Eisenkopf |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Incentives shape how much people contribute to the welfare of a group. These incentives do not restrict the opportunities but they change the costs of contributions. This paper studies how the random assignment of such incentives affects perceived distributive justice among group members. Do people consider differences in incentives similar to unequal opportunities, that is, situations in which some people have a lower chance to make a high contribution? The results from a real effort experiment show that the economic framing of incentives matters in this context. If some people do not work for the common good because of rather large private costs, they appreciate these ‘negative incentives’ similarly to unequal opportunities. They do not do so, and become less egalitarian, if lower effort for the group increases the chance for private gains (‘positive incentives’). Interestingly, participants reward group members who do not limit their expected contributions to the group despite adverse incentives. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T13:21:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2bdb9e3cec564e9591c35eb2628e1d05 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T13:21:03Z |
| publishDate | 2018-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Games |
| spelling | doaj.art-2bdb9e3cec564e9591c35eb2628e1d052022-12-22T01:05:50ZengMDPI AGGames2073-43362018-09-01937110.3390/g9030071g9030071Unequal Incentives and Perceived Fairness in GroupsGerald Eisenkopf0Faculty I, University of Vechta, 49377 Vechta, GermanyIncentives shape how much people contribute to the welfare of a group. These incentives do not restrict the opportunities but they change the costs of contributions. This paper studies how the random assignment of such incentives affects perceived distributive justice among group members. Do people consider differences in incentives similar to unequal opportunities, that is, situations in which some people have a lower chance to make a high contribution? The results from a real effort experiment show that the economic framing of incentives matters in this context. If some people do not work for the common good because of rather large private costs, they appreciate these ‘negative incentives’ similarly to unequal opportunities. They do not do so, and become less egalitarian, if lower effort for the group increases the chance for private gains (‘positive incentives’). Interestingly, participants reward group members who do not limit their expected contributions to the group despite adverse incentives.http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/9/3/71distributive justiceunequal incentivesexperimententitlements |
| spellingShingle | Gerald Eisenkopf Unequal Incentives and Perceived Fairness in Groups Games distributive justice unequal incentives experiment entitlements |
| title | Unequal Incentives and Perceived Fairness in Groups |
| title_full | Unequal Incentives and Perceived Fairness in Groups |
| title_fullStr | Unequal Incentives and Perceived Fairness in Groups |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unequal Incentives and Perceived Fairness in Groups |
| title_short | Unequal Incentives and Perceived Fairness in Groups |
| title_sort | unequal incentives and perceived fairness in groups |
| topic | distributive justice unequal incentives experiment entitlements |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/9/3/71 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT geraldeisenkopf unequalincentivesandperceivedfairnessingroups |