What Drives Employee Performance? Evidence on Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

Abstract

Motivating employees to productively perform tasks beneficial to the firm is at the core of organizational research. Not surprisingly, much research has focused on how organizations can harness the power of both pecuniary and non-pecuniary motivation to encourage productive behavior. While it is well understood that individuals respond to both types of incentives, much of the empirical work to date, particularly in the field, has only focused on one or the other, often resulting in an oversimplified view of employee motivation. The purpose of this symposium is to present four state-of-the-science empirical papers that look at the impact of pecuniary and non-pecuniary motivation in tandem, with an emphasis on how these motivations impact employee and firm performance. The primary focus is on incorporating archival and behavioural field data to build on foundations laid by laboratory experiments, survey methods, and qualitative methods. Overall this symposium highlights the considerable knowledge and manage...