When and Why Do Supervisors’ Evaluations Overweight Subordinates’ Performance Outcomes? Evidence from a Team Setting in the Field
研究利用职业足球比赛中的窄胜和窄败数据，发现主管在评价下属时对负面结果过度反应，导致绩效评分下降和员工离职率上升，且这种偏见在客观绩效指标不完整时更严重。
ABSTRACT To better understand supervisors’ outcome bias, I use a regression discontinuity design that compares coaches’ performance assessments of professional football players involved in narrow wins and losses. I document that supervisors over-react to negative outcomes, sharply lowering performance ratings and tripling subordinate turnover. I find that supervisors’ evaluations that subjectively incorporate information from more incomplete objective performance measures are more prone to outcome bias than those that draw on less incomplete objective measures. I also document that supervisors’ evaluations of high-performing team members are more prone to outcome bias than supervisors’ evaluations of low performers. Finally, I find that outcomes affect supervisors’ ex post information collection. My findings, consistent with predictions that I derive from the theory of cognitive reconstruction, shed light on supervisors’ outcome bias in team settings and how effectively firms’ use of objective performance measures, direct monitoring, and information gathering can mitigate this bias. JEL Classifications: M50; D91; Z20.