Nonbinding Peer Review and Effort in Teams: Evidence from a Field Experiment

• Behrens, Kristian ^[1] ; Chemin, Matthieu ^[2]
  1. [1] University of Quebec at Montreal

     University of Quebec at Montreal

     Canadá

     
  2. [2] McGill University

     McGill University

     Canadá

     
• Localización: Journal of human resources, ISSN 0022-166X, Vol. 55, Nº 4, 2020, págs. 1365-1399
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Individuals tend to free-ride in teams, thus providing inefficiently low effort. We implement a system of confidential peer review in a randomly selected set of teams, whereby teammates complete an online survey to review the effort of their peers. These reviews are not linked to any rewards or sanctions, thus making them nonbinding. We find that nonbinding peer reviews increase effort and team productivity and do not decrease worker morale. The effects are stronger for low-ability individuals in low-ability teams, where the traditional forces of peer effects may be absent.