Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/272750 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16123
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
In teamwork settings, providing effective leadership can be challenging for team leaders due to multitasking and the difficulty in measuring and rewarding leadership input. These challenges might lead to underprovision of leadership activities, which can ultimately impede the productivity of the team. To address this problem, we conduct a field experiment at a manufacturing firm, introducing a relative subjective performance evaluation of team leaders' leadership activities by their managers, coupled with bonuses based on their leadership rank among all leaders. Our intervention increased worker productivity by approximately 7%, while leaving team leaders' productivity unchanged, and was profitable for the firm. During the intervention, we observe a positive correlation between the evaluations of team leaders and the productivity of team members, suggesting that the subjective evaluation indeed increased leadership activities and thus productivity.
Subjects: 
multitasking
subjective evaluation
teamwork
incentive schemes
productivity
leadership
JEL: 
J24
J33
M52
C93
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
5.05 MB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.