Awards as non-monetary incentives
| Date | 04 April 2016 |
| Pages | 81-91 |
| Published date | 04 April 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-05-2015-0016 |
| Author | Bruno S. Frey,Jana Gallus |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
Awards as
non-monetary incentives
Bruno S. Frey and Jana Gallus
Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to shed light on a widely used yet scarcely investigated form
of incentive, awards. The paper seeks to explore, first, whether awards can be used to motivate higher
performance in academia and volunteering, and second, how often and in what forms awards are in
actual fact being used in the voluntary sector.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper combines a theoretical analysis with
various analytical methods, including a new matching technique, randomization in the field, and the
survey approach.
Findings –Awards have the potential to substantially increase performance, yet they are less
frequently used in the Swiss voluntary sector than theory suggests.
Research limitations/implications –The focus lies on awards in academia and the voluntary
sector. Future research should investigate awards in other fields, e.g. the for-profit or the cultural
sector. It should also assess their use in other countries to facilitate cross-country comparisons.
The effects on non-recipients and the public at large are another area worth investigating.
Practical implications –Practitioners are encouraged to consider awards as an important
motivational instrument, which could be integrated more explicitly and more widely in the volunteer
management systems of Swiss non-profit organizations.
Originality/value –This contribution analyzes a widely used yet scarcely investigated form of
incentive, awards. originality/value derives naturally from this observation.
Keywords Incentives, Awards, Motivation, Non-profit sector
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
This paper deals with a largely neglected issue in the social sciences. While awards
exist in all forms of society, all sectors and all ages, economists and other social
scientists have largely neglected to study them. Our contribution seeks to establish
awards as a valuable additional incentive instrument besides monetary or material
rewards on the one hand, and pure praise on the other hand.
There is an ancillary field of history devoted to research on orders, decorations, and
medals, called phaleristics (Měřička, 1976). It focusses mainly on the history
and insignia of particular orders, studying for instance the establishment and spread of
the Order of the Golden Fleece or of the Order of the Garter. Sociologists form part
of the second group of researchers taking an anal ytical interest in awards
(e.g. Bourdieu, 1979, 1985; Goode, 1978). These two exceptions apart, awards have
rarely been seriously analyzed in the social sciences. Only recently have the effects of
this widely used reward system become part of empirical analyses (Frey and Gallus,
2015a). Questions to be analyzed abound. Do awards merely crown tho se who are
already successful, or do they furtherraise their recipients’motivation and performance?
Can awards haveany motivating effect even if they are purelysymbolic? What impact do Evidence-based HRM: a Global
Forum for Empirical Scholarship
Vol. 4 No. 1, 2016
pp. 81-91
©Emerald Group Publis hing Limited
2049-3983
DOI 10.1108/EBHRM-05-2015-0016
Received 18 May 2015
Revised 18 May 2015
Accepted 26 June 2015
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2049-3983.htm
The authors acknowledge funding from the Schweizerische Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft (SGG),
and from the Centre for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA),
Switzerland.
81
Non-monetary
incentives
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