Work

Losing Prosociality in the Quest for Talent? Sorting, Selection, and Productivity in the Delivery of Public Services

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: We embed a field experiment in a nationwide recruitment drive for a new health care position in Zambia to test whether career benefits attract talent at the expense of prosocial motivation. In line with common wisdom, offering career opportunities attracts less prosocial applicants. However, the trade-off exists only at low levels of talent; the marginal applicants in treatment are more talented and equally prosocial. These are hired, and perform better at every step of the causal chain: they provide more inputs, increase facility utilization, and improve health outcomes including a 25 percent decrease in child malnutrition.

Source: American Economic Review

DOI: 10.1257/aer.20180326

Authors: Nava Ashraf, Oriana Bandiera, Edward Davenport, Scott S. Lee

Institutions: Lahore School of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt University

Language: English

Topic: Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: United States Agency for International Development, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute