Cheating in the workplace: An experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivity
We use an online real-effort experiment to investigate how bonus-based pay and worker productivity interact with workplace cheating. Firms often use bonus-based compensation plans, such as group bonuses and firm-wide profit sharing, that induce considerable uncertainty in how much workers are paid....
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Elsevier
2013
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| _version_ | 1797084558953283584 |
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| author | Gill, D |
| author_facet | Gill, D |
| author_sort | Gill, D |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | We use an online real-effort experiment to investigate how bonus-based pay and worker productivity interact with workplace cheating. Firms often use bonus-based compensation plans, such as group bonuses and firm-wide profit sharing, that induce considerable uncertainty in how much workers are paid. Exposing workers to a compensation scheme based on random bonuses makes them cheat more but has no effect on their productivity. We also find that more productive workers behave more dishonestly. These results are consistent with workers’ cheating behavior responding to the perceived fairness of their employer's compensation scheme. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:56:49Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:9bfafb86-e6d9-4a50-9727-256bb916c3cb |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T01:56:49Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:9bfafb86-e6d9-4a50-9727-256bb916c3cb2022-03-27T00:33:00ZCheating in the workplace: An experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivityJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:9bfafb86-e6d9-4a50-9727-256bb916c3cbORA DepositElsevier2013Gill, DWe use an online real-effort experiment to investigate how bonus-based pay and worker productivity interact with workplace cheating. Firms often use bonus-based compensation plans, such as group bonuses and firm-wide profit sharing, that induce considerable uncertainty in how much workers are paid. Exposing workers to a compensation scheme based on random bonuses makes them cheat more but has no effect on their productivity. We also find that more productive workers behave more dishonestly. These results are consistent with workers’ cheating behavior responding to the perceived fairness of their employer's compensation scheme. |
| spellingShingle | Gill, D Cheating in the workplace: An experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivity |
| title | Cheating in the workplace: An experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivity |
| title_full | Cheating in the workplace: An experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivity |
| title_fullStr | Cheating in the workplace: An experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cheating in the workplace: An experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivity |
| title_short | Cheating in the workplace: An experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivity |
| title_sort | cheating in the workplace an experimental study of the impact of bonuses and productivity |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gilld cheatingintheworkplaceanexperimentalstudyoftheimpactofbonusesandproductivity |