Traditionally, the demand for public expenditures has been estimated using as explanatory variables the average values of per capita income, as well as other variables. The results of this approach are disappointing which is due to the lacking theoretical basis. The public choice model, on the...

Awards are widespread in all countries and are prevalent both in the public sphere and in the private sector. This paper argues, and empirically supports, that awards serve public functions and economists should take them seriously. Using a unique cross-country data set, we suggest that awards...

Awards - widespread in the corporate sector and elsewhere - are motivators that derive their value from non-pecuniary concerns such as status and self-image. Quasi-experimental panel data from the call center of a large international bank allow us to estimate the causal impact on effort when...