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Gary B. Charness

University of California, Santa Barbara, USA, and IZA, Germany

Professor Gary B. Charness passed away in May 17, 2024. He authored many highly valued studies and received several prestigious honors throughout his career. We are very grateful for his support and contribution to the IZA World of Labor.

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA

Research interest

Behavioral game theory, experimental labor economics, communication, contract design, field interventions, and individual decision making

Website

http://bit.ly/Charness_IZApage

Qualifications

PhD Economics, University of California, Berkeley, 1996

Selected publications

  • “Letting down the team? Evidence of social effects of team incentives.” Journal of the European Economic Association 13:5 (2015): 841–870 (with P. Babcock, K. Bedard, J. Hartman, and H. Royer).

  • “Merit pay and wage compression with productivity differences and uncertainty.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 117 (2015): 233–247 (with T. Gross and C. Guo).

  • “Inducing norms in laboratory allocation choices.” Management Science 61:7 (2015): 1531–1546 (with A. Schram).

  • “Continuous time and communication in a public-goods experiment.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 108 (2014): 212–223 (with R. Oprea and D. Friedman).

  • “Experimental games on networks: Underpinnings of behavior and equilibrium selection.” Econometrica 82:5 (2014): 1615–1670 (with F. Feri, M. Meléndez-Jiménez, and M. Sutter).

article(s)

  • Should firms allow workers to choose their own wage?

    Delegating the choice of wage setting to workers can lead to better outcomes for all involved parties

    Gary B. Charness, January 2016
    Economists typically predict that people are inherently selfish; however, experimental evidence suggests that this is often not the case. In particular, delegating a choice (such as a wage) to the performing party may imbue this party with a sense of responsibility, leading to improved outcomes for both the delegating entity and the performing party. This strategy can be risky, as some people will still choose to act in a selfish manner, causing adverse consequences for productivity and earnings. An important issue to consider is therefore how to encourage a sense of responsibility in the performing party.
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