Money and Status

Any employer would be happy to have a formula on how to get the most work out of employees while paying them as little as possible. In this detailed report, professors Pradeep Dubey and John Geanakoplos use game theory to develop mathematical tools for this purpose. Among their findings is that employers should spur workers on with title incentives: Organizational status designations are one way to supplement wages, and they work well for many people. While the authors’ approach might work on paper, it could prove difficult to use in practice. The study’s abstruse mathematical modeling overlooks the human behavioral aspects that suggest people are not always as rational as economics would propose. Still, this research provides an intriguing perspective on a prickly workplace issue. getAbstract recommends it to entrepreneurs, human resources executives and business managers.