COMPETITIVENESS AND STRESS

Songfa Zhong; Idan Shalev; David Koh; Richard P. Ebstein; Soo Hong Chew

doi:10.1111/iere.12303

COMPETITIVENESS AND STRESS

Songfa Zhong, Idan Shalev, David Koh, Richard P. Ebstein, Soo Hong Chew

Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between competitiveness and stress. In Experiment 1, we observe a higher response of cortisol—the primary stress hormone—to the computation task coupled with tournament than to the computation task with piece rate. Moreover, more competitive subjects exhibit higher stress responses than their less competitive counterparts in the computation tasks under both tournament and piece rate. In Experiment 2, we find that exogenously induced stress does not significantly affect competitiveness. Overall, our findings reveal an important trade-off between tournament and piece rate in terms of stress response with implications on the design of incentive contracts.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1263-1281
Number of pages	19
Journal	International Economic Review
Volume	59
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/iere.12303
State	Published - Aug 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Economics and Econometrics

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10.1111/iere.12303

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abstract = "This study explores the relationship between competitiveness and stress. In Experiment 1, we observe a higher response of cortisol—the primary stress hormone—to the computation task coupled with tournament than to the computation task with piece rate. Moreover, more competitive subjects exhibit higher stress responses than their less competitive counterparts in the computation tasks under both tournament and piece rate. In Experiment 2, we find that exogenously induced stress does not significantly affect competitiveness. Overall, our findings reveal an important trade-off between tournament and piece rate in terms of stress response with implications on the design of incentive contracts.",

author = "Songfa Zhong and Idan Shalev and David Koh and Ebstein, {Richard P.} and Chew, {Soo Hong}",

note = "Funding Information: ∗Manuscript received February 2016; revised May 2017. Authors S. Zhong and I. Shalev contributed to this work equally. 1This research was supported by the Ministry of Education of Singapore (Zhong, Ebstein, and Chew) and the AXA Research Fund (Ebstein and Chew) Please address correspondence to: Songfa Zhong, Department of Economics, National University of Singapore, AS2 #06-02, 1 Arts Link, Singapore 117570. E-mail: [email protected]. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} (2018) by the Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association",

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AU - Ebstein, Richard P.

AU - Chew, Soo Hong

N1 - Funding Information: ∗Manuscript received February 2016; revised May 2017. Authors S. Zhong and I. Shalev contributed to this work equally. 1This research was supported by the Ministry of Education of Singapore (Zhong, Ebstein, and Chew) and the AXA Research Fund (Ebstein and Chew) Please address correspondence to: Songfa Zhong, Department of Economics, National University of Singapore, AS2 #06-02, 1 Arts Link, Singapore 117570. E-mail: [email protected]. Publisher Copyright: © (2018) by the Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association

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AB - This study explores the relationship between competitiveness and stress. In Experiment 1, we observe a higher response of cortisol—the primary stress hormone—to the computation task coupled with tournament than to the computation task with piece rate. Moreover, more competitive subjects exhibit higher stress responses than their less competitive counterparts in the computation tasks under both tournament and piece rate. In Experiment 2, we find that exogenously induced stress does not significantly affect competitiveness. Overall, our findings reveal an important trade-off between tournament and piece rate in terms of stress response with implications on the design of incentive contracts.

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COMPETITIVENESS AND STRESS

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