News Release

Corporate philanthropy increases workers' productivity

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Southampton

Working to benefit a good cause increases productivity by up to 30 per cent, according to the findings of a new study from the University of Southampton.

When workers are given a social incentive such as a charitable donation linked to their job, performance increases by an average of 13 per cent, rising to 30 per cent amongst those who are initially the least productive.

"A lot of studies have shown how financial incentives, like bonuses and stock options, can improve performance," says University of Southampton economist Dr Mirco Tonin, lead author of the study. "But our results provide empirical support for the growing recognition that some workers are also motivated by advancing social causes through their efforts."

Performance was most improved (increasing by 26 per cent overall) when workers could decide how much of their pay they wanted contribute. When donations were optional, over half of participants chose to give a proportion of their own pay to a charity of their choice.

Researchers offered students at University of Southampton the chance to take part in the study, which involved completing four one-hour online data entry sessions over the course of a week. Productivity was measured by the number of entries students made within the sessions and the accuracy of those entries.

Students received £20 for completing the four sessions and were divided into four groups, each with different levels of additional financial and social incentive (1). Some groups were given various increments of performance related pay, based on the number of entries they made, while others were given differing forms of social incentives; from a lump sum donation to a charity (given upon finishing the task), to donations made for each completed entry.

"Both varieties of social incentive (lumpsum and performance based) were equally effective at increasing performance," says Dr Michael Vlassopoulos, co-author of the study. "We can see that social incentives have a positive impact in the number of entries made, without compromising accuracy.

"Our results indicate that social incentives may be slightly less effective than financial incentives in motivating workers, but the difference is not as large as one might have expected. The motivational impact of social incentives, coupled with sufficient tax breaks or additional advantages coming from customers, regulators, or investors, would make them as effective for employers as offering financial incentives."

When participants could choose how much of their performance related pay they would like to share with a charity, and how much they wanted to keep for themselves, performance increased considerably. Those who chose to donate gave an average of 20 per cent of their per entry rate, with women being more generous than men.

"We find that offering subjects some discretion in choosing their own payment scheme leads to a substantial improvement in performance," says Dr Tonin. "This suggests that firms willing to introduce corporate giving programmes may want to consider giving employees the opportunity to 'opt in.'"

The study Corporate Philanthropy and Productivity: Evidence from an Online Real Effort Experiment will be published in the forthcoming edition of Management Science.

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Notes to editors

1. Groups were divided as follows:

  • Group One received an additional 2.5 pence per entry throughout each of the four sessions.
  • Group Two received the same per entry rate in the first session, but this increased in a random order throughout the remaining three sessions to 5p, 7.5p and 10p.
  • In Group Three, subjects received the same 2.5p rate. But in sessions two and three, their compensation package also included a lump sum donation of £10 (to a charity of their choice) or a donation, based on their performance, of 10p per entry. In the fourth session, this group could then decide how much of a 10p per entry rate they would like to split between themselves and their favoured charity, with the charity receiving double the amount they wanted to pass on.
  • Group Four underwent a similar treatment to Group Three, but with a charitable giving rate of 5p and 15p per entry in sessions two and three (ordered at random).

2. For a copy of the paper Corporate Philanthropy and Productivity: Evidence from an Online Real Effort Experiment Mirco Tonin and Michael Vlassopoulos DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2014.1985 please contact Steven Williams, Tel: 023 8059 2128, email: S.Williams@soton.ac.uk

3. For interview opportunities with Dr Mirco Tonin, please contact Steven Williams, Tel: 023 8059 2128, email: S.Williams@soton.ac.uk

4. Through world-leading research and enterprise activities, the University of Southampton connects with businesses to create real-world solutions to global issues. Through its educational offering, it works with partners around the world to offer relevant, flexible education, which trains students for jobs not even thought of. This connectivity is what sets Southampton apart from the rest; we make connections and change the world. http://www.southampton.ac.uk/
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/weareconnected

For further information contact: Steven Williams, Media Relations, University of Southampton, Tel: 023 8059 2128, email: S.Williams@soton.ac.uk
http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/

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