Using a novel panel dataset of corporate inventors matched with their employers in Japan, we examine the effects of output-based financial incentives on corporate inventor's performance. We exploit the 2001 court decision that discontinuously forced many firms to adopt or strengthen the...

The keys to effective teamwork in firms are (1) carefully designed team-formation policies that take into account what level of diversity of skills, knowledge, and demographics is desirable and (2) balanced team-based incentives. Employers need to choose policies that maximize the gains from...

Teams have become a mainstay for the organization of work. Economic models of teams focus on productivity declines due to free-riding and on mechanisms to avoid it. Unfortunately, few empirical studies have systematically examined the impact of teams on output. Furthermore, the literature does...

This paper empirically studies the extent to which career concerns as part of a typical contract offer influence employees’ work performance in a Japanese auto dealership firm. Since career movements and base wage adjustments rely on performance evaluation over time, we develop a dynamic...