2010. Peer pressure, incentives, and gender: An experimental analysis of motivation in the workplace

We present results from a real-effort experiment comparing the productivity of workers under fixed wages and piece rates. Workers working under both payment systems were exposed to different degrees of peer pressure in the form of private information about the productivity of their peers. We have three main results. First, under fixed wages, we find a significant inverted U relationship between peer pressure intensity and the productiv-ity of men. We argue that this relationship is consistent with theories of self-assessment and motivation. Second, we find no significant effect of peer pressure on productivity of women paid a fixed wage. Finally, we find no significant effect of peer pressure intensity on productivity of men or women when workers are paid a piece rate. JEL Codes