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Gift Exchange and Workers’ Fairness Concerns: When Equality Is Unfair
- Journal of the European Economic Association
, 2010
"... We study how different payment modes influence the effectiveness of gift exchange as a contract enforcement device. In particular, we analyze how equal wages affect performance and efficiency in an environment characterized by contractual incompleteness. In our experiment, one principal is matched w ..."
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Cited by 29 (2 self)
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We study how different payment modes influence the effectiveness of gift exchange as a contract enforcement device. In particular, we analyze how equal wages affect performance and efficiency in an environment characterized by contractual incompleteness. In our experiment, one principal is matched with two agents. The principal pays equal wages in one treatment and can set individual wages in the other. We find that the use of equal wages elicits substantially lower efforts. This is not caused by monetary incentives per se since under both wage schemes it is profit-maximizing for agents to exert high efforts. The treatment difference is instead driven by the fact that the norm of equity is violated far more frequently in the equal wage treatment. Agents care about how they are treated relative to each other. After having suffered from violations of the equity principle, they withdraw effort. These findings hold even after controlling for the role of intentions, as we show in a third treatment. Our results suggest that adherence to the norm of equity is a necessary prerequisite for successful establishment of gift-exchange relations.
Finding Solutions to Ethical Problems in Agriculture
, 2002
"... Abstract: This paper distinguishes between two types of ethical problems. A Type I ethical problem is one in which there is no consensus as to what is ethical. A Type II ethical problem is one in which there is a consensus as to what is ethical, but incentives exist for individuals to behave unethic ..."
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Cited by 1 (1 self)
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Abstract: This paper distinguishes between two types of ethical problems. A Type I ethical problem is one in which there is no consensus as to what is ethical. A Type II ethical problem is one in which there is a consensus as to what is ethical, but incentives exist for individuals to behave unethically. This paper shows that Type I ethical problems can only be resolved by making, challenging and reasoning through moral arguments, and Type II ethical problems can only be resolved by changing the institutional environment so that people do not have incentives to behave unethically. Applications to and examples from agricultural and environmental problems are provided.
Corresponding author:
"... Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the institute. Research disseminated by IZA may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international r ..."
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Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of the institute. Research disseminated by IZA may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit company supported by Deutsche Post World Net. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its research networks, research support, and visitors and doctoral programs. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author. IZA Discussion Paper No. 3010
the Public Support of Biotechnology
, 2005
"... Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to determine what factor affect trust in scientists and food manufacturers, and to examine how trust in these institutions affects public support for biotechnology. Data from the U.S. Biotechnology Study reveal that benefits from biotechnology and expectations ..."
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Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to determine what factor affect trust in scientists and food manufacturers, and to examine how trust in these institutions affects public support for biotechnology. Data from the U.S. Biotechnology Study reveal that benefits from biotechnology and expectations of trustworthiness are correlated with trust in scientists, but benefits and costs of biotechnology, and expectations of trustworthiness and competence of biotechnology institutions, are important determinants of trust in food manufacturers. The data also reveal that trust in scientists and food manufacturers has a large and important effect on public support for biotechnology, but trust in scientists is more important for public support than trust in food manufacturers.
and
, 2007
"... Abstract: We consider the effect of perceived economic pressures on the ethical attitudes of farmers. We hypothesize that an increase in the economic pressures a farmer faces could result in that farmer being more tolerant of unethical conduct than farmers not experiencing economic pressures. To tes ..."
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Abstract: We consider the effect of perceived economic pressures on the ethical attitudes of farmers. We hypothesize that an increase in the economic pressures a farmer faces could result in that farmer being more tolerant of unethical conduct than farmers not experiencing economic pressures. To test this hypothesis, we use data from a survey of 3,000 Missouri farmers with farm sales in excess of $10,000 in 2005 in which farmers were asked how acceptable they considered various unethical or questionable farming practices. The survey also contained questions designed to measure perceived economic pressures. We find evidence that economic pressures result in a greater willingness of farmers to tolerate unethical conduct, particularly in the case of actions that have the potential of causing harm or that are influenced by law or contract. We also find that the more frequently a farmer reports observing an unethical action, the more acceptable he is of it.
Corn and Soybean Producers
, 2004
"... Abstract: Interviews with Missouri corn and soybean farmers reveal what farmers consider are important ethical challenges in agriculture. In contrast to the literature, which characterizes ethical challenges in term of philosophical debates about soil conservation, the use of pesticides and genetica ..."
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Abstract: Interviews with Missouri corn and soybean farmers reveal what farmers consider are important ethical challenges in agriculture. In contrast to the literature, which characterizes ethical challenges in term of philosophical debates about soil conservation, the use of pesticides and genetically modified seeds, and the treatment of animals, for instance, this research finds that farmers perceive ethical challenges in behavioral terms. The reason is rooted in the industrialization of agricultural production, which creates tensions for farmers between doing what they believe is right and doing what they feel they must in order to survive.
Trust in Biotechnology Risk Managers: Insights from the United Kingdom, 1996-2002
"... Abstract: The mid to late 1990s saw a series of negative media events in the United Kingdom (UK) related to biotechnology. According to the trust asymmetry hypothesis, such events ought to cause public trust in risk managers of biotechnology to fall quickly but rise slowly. We present evidence from ..."
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Abstract: The mid to late 1990s saw a series of negative media events in the United Kingdom (UK) related to biotechnology. According to the trust asymmetry hypothesis, such events ought to cause public trust in risk managers of biotechnology to fall quickly but rise slowly. We present evidence from the Eurobarometer surveys that from 1996 to 1999 public trust in the UK declined, but it increased sharply between 1999 and 2002. We seek to explain this apparent contradiction to the asymmetry hypothesis. We use canonical discriminant analysis of public trust to show that whether people trust or distrust risk managers of biotechnology depends significantly on the amount of knowledge people have about science. We speculate that knowledge of science moderates the trust asymmetry effect.
Jan Bahlmann (corresponding author)
"... Bahlmann, J., Schulze, B., Spiller, A. (2007): Trust as a supply chain management tool for slaughterhouses: Empirical evidence from north-western Germany. Paper presented at the ..."
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Bahlmann, J., Schulze, B., Spiller, A. (2007): Trust as a supply chain management tool for slaughterhouses: Empirical evidence from north-western Germany. Paper presented at the
