Quitting and Peer Effects at Work

Julie Rosaz (), Robert Slonim and Marie Claire Villeval

No 1204, Working Papers from Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon

Abstract: This paper studies the influence of peers on the extensive margin of effort at work by means of a real-effort experiment in which subjects have to decide on the intensity of effort and when to stop working. Participants perform a task alone or in the presence of a peer. The feedback on the co-worker’s output is manipulated and we vary whether the two workers can communicate. We find that when communication is allowed, the average productivity per unit of time and the quitting time are not increased but the presence of a peer causes workers to stay longer and to quit at more similar times. Peer effects on the extensive margin of effort derive more from a sociability effect, i.e. a reduction of the social distance between co-workers that could make the other’s presence more valuable, than from performance or quitting time comparisons

Keywords: Quitting; peer effects; effort; communication; working time; feedback; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D83 J21 J28 J63 J81 M5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-cbe, nep-hrm, nep-lab and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
ftp://ftp.gate.cnrs.fr/RePEc/2012/1204.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Quitting and peer effects at work (2016)
Working Paper: Quitting and peer effects at work (2016)
Working Paper: Quitting and Peer Effects at Work (2015)
Working Paper: Quitting and Peer Effects at Work (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gat:wpaper:1204

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