Motivating Agents: How Much Does the Mission Matter?
通过实验研究工人与组织使命匹配对努力的影响，发现使命匹配能显著激励工人，而绩效工资主要提升不匹配工人的努力。
Economic theory predicts that agents work harder if they believe in the mission of the organization. We conduct a real-effort experiment with workers whose mission preferences are known, randomly assigning them to organizations with clear missions to create both matches and mismatches. Our estimates suggest that matching is a strong motivator, especially compared to mismatches. Further, we find that performance pay increases effort, though mostly among mismatched workers who substitute pay for matching. Our results suggest the importance of defining a clear mission to an organization and highlight the significance of sorting, screening, and compensation policies.