{"title":"Costly Rewards and Punishments","authors":"F. Lee","doi":"10.1515/bejte-2018-0131","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract To punish an agent, the principal often incurs costs. I study a principal’s least costly reward and punishment scheme for an agent whose effort the principal cannot observe. I find the principal’s cost is sometimes minimized by using both costly rewards and costly punishments because (1) the agent has an outside option, or (2) a principal without commitment ability repeatedly interacts with the agent. I also find that when an agent’s effort is better at increasing the probability of a good outcome for the principal, the agent’s payoff may decrease, because the principal replaces rewards with punishments.","PeriodicalId":44773,"journal":{"name":"B E Journal of Theoretical Economics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2019-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/bejte-2018-0131","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"B E Journal of Theoretical Economics","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1515/bejte-2018-0131","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract To punish an agent, the principal often incurs costs. I study a principal’s least costly reward and punishment scheme for an agent whose effort the principal cannot observe. I find the principal’s cost is sometimes minimized by using both costly rewards and costly punishments because (1) the agent has an outside option, or (2) a principal without commitment ability repeatedly interacts with the agent. I also find that when an agent’s effort is better at increasing the probability of a good outcome for the principal, the agent’s payoff may decrease, because the principal replaces rewards with punishments.
期刊介绍：
We welcome submissions in all areas of economic theory, both applied theory and \"pure\" theory. Contributions can be either innovations in economic theory or rigorous new applications of existing theory. Pure theory papers include, but are by no means limited to, those in behavioral economics and decision theory, game theory, general equilibrium theory, and the theory of economic mechanisms. Applications could encompass, but are by no means limited to, contract theory, public finance, financial economics, industrial organization, law and economics, and labor economics.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
