A Field Experiment in Motivating Employee Ideas
在一家大型科技公司开展实地实验，发现对获批创意给予奖励能显著提升创意质量，但参与员工人均创意数下降，且奖励停止后广泛参与仍持续，未发现动机挤出效应。
We study a field experiment at a large technology company. Employees were encouraged to submit ideas on process and product improvements. The company randomly assigned nineteen teams into treatment and control groups. Treatment team employees received rewards if their ideas were approved. Nothing changed for control team employees. Our main finding is that rewards substantially increased the quality of ideas. Rewards increased participation in the suggestion system but decreased ideas per participating employee, with no net effect on the quantity of ideas. Broader participation persisted after the reward was discontinued, suggesting habituation. We find no evidence for motivational crowding out.