On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B
Abstract
Illustrations are presented from society in general, and from organizations in particular, of reward systems that “pay off” for one behavior even though the rewarder hopes dearly for another. Porti...
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It is well known from practice and theory that explicit performance incentives may be harmful because they induce employees to concentrate only on rewarded tasks and neglect non-rewarded tasks.
“It is well known from practice (Kerr 1975) and from theory (Holmström and Milgrom 1991, Baker 1992) that in this situation explicit performance incentives may be harmful because they induce the employees to concentrate only on the rewarded tasks and to neglect the non-rewarded tasks.”
From Psychological foundations of incentives (2002) · cites this paper as Kerr 1975
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- Authors
- Kerr, S.
- Corresponding author
- Kerr, S.
- Venue
- Academy of Management Journal
- Publisher
- Academy of Management
- Published
- 1975-12-01
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 769-783
- ISSN
- 0001-4273 (ISSN-L)
- 1948-0989
- OpenAlex
- W2174179791
- Cited by
- 1,585
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 49 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 64 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 53 · 2016: 53 · 2015: 53 · 2014: 55 · 2013: 68 · 2012: 93
- FWCI
- 3.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Academy of Management Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management Theory and Practice
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Employee Performance and Motivation
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Accounting and Organizational Management
- Keywords
- reward systems, performance-based pay, unintended consequences, organizational incentives, employee motivation, reward function design
- MeSH terms
- Commerce, Insurance, Health, Organization and Administration, Politics, Rehabilitation Centers, Reward, Universities, Warfare
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