Effects of Probabilistic Arrangements of Incentives and Disincentives on Work Task Performance in an Analogue Setting

Abstract

The current study seeks to synthesize concepts from organizational behavior management and behavioral economics through an exploratory, translational paradigm. The degree to which workplace contingencies are subject to variables common to the behavioral economic literature was assessed in three experiments. The first experiment was a hypothetical discounting task that extended the cross-commodity discounting literature by comparing monetary outcomes with access to mobile devices, a potential competing reward in organizational settings. The second experiment was a systematic replication of Experiment 1 in the context of the workplace. The third experiment examined the effects of probability on the efficacy of an incentive system in an analogue work environment. The applicability of behavioral economics, specifically discounting, for organizations are discussed.