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Improving Workers' Performance in Small Firms: A Randomized Experiment on Goal Setting in Ghana

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: We report the results of a cost-effective intervention to improve workers' performance in small cassava processing firms in Ghana. We train workers to track their daily output and then randomly assign a sub-sample to set daily production goals. Achieving or missing a goal does not carry monetary consequences. Goal setting increases workers' output by 16%, their productivity by 8% and the average product of labor in firms by 13%. Goal setting is particularly effective for piece-rate workers, increasing their output by 32% and productivity by 24%. While not conclusive, evidence suggests that goals serve as a self-regulation device.

Source: The Review of Economics and Statistics

DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01537

Authors: Elena Cettolin, Kym Cole, Patricio S. Dalton

Institutions: Tilburg University, BRAC, BRAC University

Language: English

Topic: Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, No poverty

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W4404691647

FWCI: 0.41

Cites:

Cited by: 1

Related to: 10