Why does incentive pay often depend on subjective rather than objective performance evaluations? After all, subjective evaluations entail a credibility issue. While the most plausible explanation for this practice is lack of adequate objective measures, I argue that subjective evaluations might...

In this paper, we analyze a principal's optimal feedback policy in tournaments. We close a gap in the literature by assuming the principal to be unable to commit to a certain policy at the beginning of the tournament. Our analysis shows that in equilibrium the principal reveals in-termediate...

Employees often learn about their ability while working, and the resulting beliefs interact with pay incentives to shape employment outcomes. This paper investigates this issue within a model that incorporates learning about ability on the job, dynamic selection, effort, and variation in pay...

In this paper, we analyze a principal's optimal feedback policy in tournaments. We close a gap in the literature by assuming the principal to be unable to commit to a certain policy at the beginning of the tournament. Our analysis shows that in equilibrium the principal reveals intermediate...

Recent behavioral models argue in favor of avoidance of instrumental information. We explore the role of information avoidance in a real-effort setting. Our experiment offers three main results. First, we confirm that preferences for avoidance of instrumental information exist, studying...

A long-standing puzzle is how overconfidence can persist in settings characterized by repeated feedback. This paper studies managers who participate repeatedly in a high-powered tournament incentive system, learning relative performance each time. Using reduced form and structural methods we...

We use data from a pay reform in an insurance company to contrast different theories of work motivations. The management installed performance pay to boost sales in the customer service centre of the company. The reform was successful. The bonus scheme gave the operators both self-regarding and...

Redress to consumers following the mis-selling of financial products is an important regulatory tool to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers, one of the three operational objectives of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). In 2011/12, excluding compensation for payment...