Private versus Public Feedback - The Incentive Effects of Symbolic Awards

We experimentally compare the incentive effects of rewarding individuals for outstanding performance publicly versus privately. We implement two real-effort tasks, which differ in how prestigious subjects perceive working on them. In both tasks private and public feedback similarly enhances subjects' performance compared to the control treatment. Also high ability and a positive interim feedback increase performance. Competitive preferences matter only in the less prestigious task. Subjects' gender and overconfidence can in neither of the tasks explain performance. In a supplementary field experiment at a secondary school we furthermore compare the incentive effects of different forms of public recognition.