Learn Before
Evaluating Anti-Shirking Policies
A manager at a software development company, "CodeCrafters," is concerned about low productivity, suspecting that some employees are not putting in full effort during remote work. The current wage is slightly above what employees could get elsewhere. The manager is considering two different strategies to motivate employees to work harder:
- Strategy A: Implement a significant, across-the-board wage increase for all developers.
- Strategy B: Invest in new project management software that tracks task completion and code commits more closely, making it much easier to identify underperforming employees.
Using the logic of the model that explains how firms can incentivize effort, analyze both strategies. Explain how each one is intended to solve the effort problem and recommend which strategy the manager should choose, or if they are equally effective, justifying your answer.
0
1
Tags
Science
Economy
CORE Econ
Social Science
Empirical Science
Economics
Introduction to Microeconomics Course
The Economy 2.0 Microeconomics @ CORE Econ
Related
s (Expected Shirker Detection Time)
The Wage-Setting Model
Raising Wages to Increase Employment Rent and Incentivize Effort
Sequential Nature of the Labour Discipline Game
Monitoring and Firing Assumption in the Labour Discipline Model
Determining the No-Shirking Wage for an Individual Employee (Maria's Case)
Firm's Profit from an Employee in the Labour Discipline Model
h (Worker's Planning Horizon)
A company uses a wage strategy where it pays employees more than their next-best alternative to create a strong incentive for them to work hard, as losing the job would be costly. If the general unemployment rate in the economy significantly increases, what is the effect on the minimum wage the company must pay to maintain this incentive, and why?
Evaluating Anti-Shirking Policies
Analyzing the Employer's Wage Strategy
In a model where an employer pays a wage premium specifically to motivate workers not to slack off, the employer should always adopt the most effective employee monitoring system available, regardless of its price.
A firm's strategy is to pay its employees a wage higher than what they could earn elsewhere to ensure they work diligently. The employees know that if they are caught slacking, they will be dismissed and lose this favorable wage. Considering this incentive structure, which of the following actions would most likely allow the firm to achieve the same level of employee diligence while paying a lower wage?
Employee Motivation and External Factors
Firm's Dilemma: Wages vs. Monitoring
A firm's strategy is to pay a wage set above the typical market rate to create a strong incentive for employees to work diligently, as losing such a well-paying job would be a significant financial loss. For each of the following scenarios, match it to its most likely impact on the minimum wage the firm must pay to maintain the same level of employee effort and motivation.
An employee can choose to either exert effort or shirk. Shirking provides the employee with a benefit equivalent to $2 per hour. If the employee shirks, there is a 10% chance they will be caught each hour and dismissed, at which point they will receive an unemployment benefit of $6 per hour. To ensure the employee always chooses to exert effort, the firm must pay a minimum hourly wage of $____. (Enter a numerical value only, without the dollar sign)
In an employment relationship where a firm cannot perfectly monitor an employee's effort, a strategic interaction unfolds. Arrange the following events into the logical sequence that describes this interaction, from the firm's initial action to the final outcome for an employee who chooses not to work hard.
Constant Vertical Distance Between No-Shirking and Reservation Wage Curves
Imperfect Monitoring and Firing Assumption in the Labour Discipline Model