Incentives
Aid for AIDS (8/30/2001)
Benefit/cost analysis applied to the epidemiology of AIDS leads to surprising behavioral implications and policy recommendations.
Busy secretary - The principal-agent problem (11/2/2011)
The principal-agent conflict is endemic in employer-employee and supervisor-supervisee relationships.
Dead Men Flying (3/7/2007)
Funeral directors might be more concerned about getting the most perks offered by airline loyalty programs than the lowest fares for shipping dead bodies.
Front Loading (5/12/2010)
Cash for clunkers and home-buyer tax credit provided huge subsidies for each incremental sale but failed to sustain the car and housing markets.
Green Tax (8/30/2001)
Taxing nonrenewable resources instead of labor income would create more jobs and encourage conservation while reducing pollution.
Image Polishing (8/20/2009)
Image polishing is a powerful incentive for charitable donations.
Metered Consumption (3/7/2007)
Resource conservation depends on who pays and the time horizon of costs vs benefits.
Scrapped Art (3/7/2007)
High prices of copper have led to theft of bronze sculptures for material recycling.
Supply-chain Births (6/22/2006)
Caesarean sections, which are preferred for their predictability, are more prevalent when reimbursement policy favors their practice even when they are not medically necessary.
Talent Raid (10/19/2000)
The booming high-tech economy and the speculative stock market have led to massive migration of skilled workers from old-line firms to Internet startups in search of overnight wealth promised by generous stock options.
The Miles Rush (7/27/2000)
Frequent flier miles are as good as money because they are redeemable for many goods and services and can be earned in many ways other than flying.
To Each According to His Work (3/7/2007)
Piecework pay could raise labor productivity, pay, and company earnings when output and quality are easily measurable.
Windfall Profit (9/7/2005)
Unexpected market gain resulting from uncontrolled circumstances might serve as incentives to correctly allocate scarce resources.
Yes, Boss. (1/16/2006)
The prevalence of yes persons is due to the difficulty of objectively assessing the contribution of white-collar work and the bosses’ human desire to hear confirming information.