Incentives and Prosocial Behavior
We develop a theory of prosocial behavior that combines heterogeneity in individual altruism and greed with concerns for social reputation or self-respect. Rewards or punishments (whether material or imagerelated) create doubt about the true motive for which good deeds are performed and this “overjustification effect” can induce a partial or even net crowding out of prosocial behavior by extrinsic incentives. We also identify the settings that are conducive to multiple social norms and more generally those that make individual actions complements or substitutes, which we show depends on whether stigma or honor is (endogenously) the dominant reputational concern. Finally, we analyze the socially optimal level of incentives and how monopolistic or competitive sponsors depart from it. Sponsor competition is shown to potentially reduce social welfare.
Main Authors: | Benabou, Roland, Tirole, Jean |
---|---|
Format: | report biblioteca |
Language: | en_US |
Published: |
Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies
2006-04
|
Subjects: | Altruism, Rewards, Motivation, Esteem, Crowding Out, Overjustification Effect, Identity, Social Norms, Morals, Greed, Psychology, France, |
Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1813/55020 |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Similar Items
-
Motivating Teams
by: Delavallade, Clara
Published: (2021-04) -
Do They Do As They Say?
by: De Martino, Samantha, et al.
Published: (2016-06) -
"Drop-out" in the Danish high school (gymnasium): an investigation of psychological, sociological and pedagogical factors
by: UNESCO Institute for Education, et al. -
Self-concepts and values of Korean adolescents
by: Korean Educational Development Institute, et al. -
Altruism or Money?: Reducing Teacher Sorting Using Behavioral Strategies in Peru
by: Inter-American Development Bank