Measuring the Indirect Effects of Adverse Employer Behaviour on Worker Productivity
A field Experiment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9707960 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Matthias Heinz (0000-0003-3690-926X, University of Cologne, corresponding author), Sabrina Jeworrek (0000-0001-7967-9383, Halle Institute for Economic Research and Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg), Vanessa Mertins (0000-0002-2843-7381, University of Vechta), Heiner Schumacher (0000-0002-2259-6728, KU Leuven), Matthias Sutter (0000-0002-6143-8706, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, University of Cologne, University of Innsbruck, and ECONtribute) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 130 |
| Issue | 632 |
| Pages | 2546-2568 |
| Publication date | 2020-11-23 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Economic Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ej/ueaa038 |
| OpenAlex | W3014962773 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 38 |
We conduct a field experiment to study how worker productivity is affected if employers act adversely towards their co-workers. Our employees work for two shifts in a call centre. In our main treatment, we lay off some workers before the second shift. Compared to two control treatments, we find that the lay-off reduces the productivity of unaffected workers by 12%. We find suggestive evidence that this result is not driven by altered beliefs about the job or the management’s competence, but caused by the workers’ perception of unfair employer behaviour. The latter interpretation is confirmed in a prediction experiment with professional HR managers. Our results suggest that the price for adverse employer behaviour goes well beyond the potential tit for tat of directly affected workers
Actuarial science · Adverse selection · Business · Competence (human resources · Control (management · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Labour economics · Management · Perception · Productivity · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Psychology · Psychology of Social Influence · Social Psychology
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| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,75 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |