We examine how absolute and relative gains within reward schemes influence dishonesty. In our online experiment, we vary two payoff dimensions in a cheating mind game: the payoff level and the absolute payoff difference between being successful or not. A higher payoff level has a negative impact...

We show that executives' early-life poverty experiences reduce both internal (executive-employee) and external (executive-peer) corporate pay disparities. Three mechanisms drive this effect: increased risk aversion in poverty-exposed executives, strategic avoidance of negative media coverage to...

Performance-contingent pay raises productivity, yet in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) only about 16% of workers report receiving performance pay, with the incidence being roughly seven percentage points higher among university graduates than among non-graduates. This coexistence of low...

Using German survey data, we show conflicting influences of performance pay on overall life satisfaction. The overall influence reflects a strong positive influence through domains of life satisfaction associated with the job (job satisfaction, individual earnings satisfaction and household...

We model firm executives' compensation incentives when ESG metrics are added to their performance-vested contracts. Drawing on multitasking theory, we predict that incentives tied to standard accounting or financial metrics are reduced after introducing ESG metrics to induce executives to...

Using German survey data, we estimate the determinants of employee quits examining the roles of performance appraisal and performance pay. We show that employees subject to performance appraisals are less likely to quit. Yet, this influence depends upon the financial consequences that flow from...

Using German survey data, we show conflicting influences of performance pay on overall life satisfaction. The overall influence reflects a strong positive influence through domains of life satisfaction associated with the job (job satisfaction, individual earnings satisfaction and household...

Using German survey data, we show conflicting influences of performance pay on overall life satisfaction. The overall influence reflects a strong positive influence through domains of life satisfaction associated with the job (job satisfaction, individual earnings satisfaction and household...

We analyze how entrepreneurs' education affects the relationship between access to bank credit and real outcomes. For identification, we use a sharp discontinuity created by a bank's credit score and the associated loan origination decision, along with exogenous variations in educational...

With growing public and policy-makers' attention to en vironmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures, a natural question is how management compensation systems should include ESG metrics. This paper selectively reviews and discusses insights from agency theory on the design of optimal...