We investigate how the budget levels embedded in budget-based contracts affect individual effort and risk-taking. We show that, from a wealth maximization perspective, a tradeoff exists between motivating effort and encouraging risk-taking. We illustrate an inverted-U relation between budget...

We use a laboratory experiment to investigate how the level of a budget assigned to an employee by a firm owner affects employee effort. Consistent with reciprocity and fairness models, we find a negative relationship between budget levels and employee effort - many employees responded to a low...