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Sebastian J. Goerg

Technical University of Munich, and IZA, Germany

I believe that IZA World of Labor provides a wonderful platform for the exchange between academics and policymakers. Ultimately, the accessible format for state-of-the-art research will help practitioners with the implementation of evidence-based policy

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Associate Professor for Economics, TUMCS for Biotechnology and Sustainability (since 2018), and Speaker of the Economics and Policy Department, TUM School of Management (since 2019), Technical University Munich, Germany

Research interest

Experimental economics, behavioral economics, labor economics, law and public economics, personnel economics

Website

http://www.s-goerg.de/

Past positions

Assistant Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA (2012−2018)

Qualifications

Dr. rer. pol., University of Bonn, 2010

Selected publications

  • “Fusing enacted and expected mimicry generates a winning strategy that promotes the evolution of cooperation.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110:25 (2013): 10229−10233 (with I. Fischer, A. Frid, S. Levin, D. Rubenstein, and R. Selten).

  • “Treating equals unequally—Incentives, motivation and production technology in teams.” Journal of Labor Economics 28 (2010): 747−772 (with S. Kube and R. Zultan).

  • “On the prevalence of framing effects across subject-pools in a two-person cooperation game.” Journal of Economic Psychology 31 (2010): 849−859 (with G. Walkowitz).

  • “Experimental investigation of a cyclic duopoly game.” Experimental Economics 12:3 (2009): 253−271 (with R. Selten).

article(s)

  • Goal setting and worker motivation

    Individual work goals can increase a worker’s performance, but they need to be chosen wisely

    Sebastian J. Goerg, August 2015
    Employers want motivated and productive employees. Are there ways to increase employee motivation without relying solely on monetary incentives, such as pay-for-performance schemes? One tool that has shown promise in recent decades for improving worker performance is setting goals, whether they are assigned by management or self-chosen. Goals are powerful motivators for workers, with the potential for boosting productivity in an organization. However, if not chosen carefully or if used in unsuitable situations, goals can have undesired and harmful consequences. Goals are a powerful tool that needs to be applied with caution.
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