The Quality-Quantity Trade-off in the Principal-Agent Framework

This paper uses the principal-agent theory to analytically investigate the optimal incentive-based compensation contract that a processor should offer to a grower performing efforts in quantity and quality. In this process, we contribute to the substantive literature on multi-task principal-agent models by analyzing the quality-quantity trade-off and studying the implications of such a relationship in the principal-agent framework. One striking result of these effects is that, under appropriate incentive-based grower’s compensation, the processor may encourage grower’s effort in quality without crowding out grower’s effort in quantity.