Competitiveness of Entrepreneurs and Salaried Workers

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Balafoutas, Loukas; Batsaikhan, Mongoljin; Sutter, Matthias
• 署名单位: University of Exeter; University of Innsbruck; Middlesex University; Max Planck Society; University of Cologne; IZA Institute Labor Economics
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2023.4838
• 发表日期: 2024
• 关键词: competitiveness; entrepreneurs; salaried workers; profits; Field behavior; experiment

摘要

We measure the willingness to compete of entrepreneurs and salaried workers in an experiment. Participants can choose between a piece rate and a tournament scheme in either private or public. We find that in the private condition, entrepreneurs are less competitive than salaried workers, but in the public condition, this ordering is reversed. Survey data suggest that perceived norms of appropriate behavior, along with beliefs about the instrumental value of competitiveness for professional success, can explain why entrepreneurs are more competitive when decisions are publicly observable. We also find that the latter condition improves the quality of experimental decisions.