Peer pressure and manager pressure in organisations

Battiston, Diego Ezequiel, Blanes I Vidal, Jordi ORCID: 0009-0002-9237-2049, Kirchmaier, Tom and Szemeredi, Katalin (2023) Peer pressure and manager pressure in organisations. CEP Discussion Papers (CEPDP1924). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

We study the interaction between horizontal (peer) and vertical (manager) social factors in workers' motivation. In our setting, individuals work using open-plan desks. Using a natural experiment, we identify a sharp increase in workers' productivity following the occupation of adjacent desks. We link this peer pressure effect to two key aspects of the worker-manager relation. First, we find stronger peer pressure when managers monitor workers less. Second, we find stronger peer pressure among workers performance-evaluated by the same manager. In a set of counterfactual exercises, we illustrate how organisations could take advantage of these interdependencies to increase worker productivity.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	https://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/discussion...
Additional Information:	© 2023 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Centre for Macroeconomics Management
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
JEL classification:	D - Microeconomics > D2 - Production and Organizations > D23 - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting > M1 - Business Administration > M11 - Production Management
Date Deposited:	24 Jan 2024 12:45
Last Modified:	19 Apr 2024 12:42
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/121319

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