Economics of Motivation (MSB300)

What drives people to work hard? Why do we try our best in some settings, while in others we tend to slack off? In this class we explore how employees are motivated and the tools that can increase employees' motivation. We apply microeconomic theory, game theory, behavioral economics and psychology to investigate topics such as incentives, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, peer effects, performance feedback, employer recognition, autonomy, competitiveness, reciprocity, procrastination, mindset, purpose and social status. An important learning experience involves collaborating with classmates and acting as a consultant team for a real firm or organization. These consultant teams will compete against each other in the UiS Rogaland Sparebank Case Competition for a monetary prize (NOK 50 000) awarded to the best consultant report.

NB! This is an elective course and may be cancelled if fewer than 15 students are enrolled by August 20th for the autumn semester.

In this class we leverage behavioral science to understand motivation in the workplace. We explore how job design is linked to employees' effectiveness and motivation, and how organizational change and management can increase employees' motivation. We apply microeconomic theory, game theory, behavioral economics and psychology to investigate topics such as incentives, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, peer effects, performance feedback, employer recognition, autonomy, competitiveness, reciprocity, procrastination, mindset, purpose and social status.

An important learning experience in this course is to collaborate with classmates and act as a consultant team for a real firm/organization. Your team will write a report evaluating how the employees at the firm/organization are motivated, including your recommendations for how to increase motivation. Your report will be based on interviews with a manager in the firm/organization. The three teams with the best case reports will be given the opportunity to present their work to an expert committee in the UiS Rogaland Sparebank Case Competition. The committee will select the team with the best case study, and the winning team will receive a prize of NOK 50 000.

We will use scientific journal articles in addition to some chapters from the textbook Personnel Economics in Practice by Edward P. Lazear and Michael Gibbs (2014) and Personnel Economics (2018) by Peter Kuhn. An important goal is to learn how to read international journal articles, think critically about the empirical evidence, and communicate the research findings to colleagues. Together with classmates you will be responsible for presenting a relevant journal article at a student seminar.

Knowledge:

Upon completion of the course, students will better understand:

• how people are motivated to do their best in the workplace
• the role of behavioral science in understanding motivation in the workplace
• how job design is linked to employee effectiveness and motivation
• how organizational change and management can increase employees' motivation

Skills:

Upon completion of the course, students will have learned:

• to apply microeconomic theory, game theory, behavioral economics and econometric analysis to explore traditional general management questions
• to conduct a case study of how employees in a real-life organization are motivated
• to interact with a real-life organization and provide them with recommendations for how to improve worker motivation

General competence:

Upon completion of the course, students will have learned:

• how to think critically about empirical evidence
• how to learn from reading international journal articles
• how to collaborate effectively in groups
• better writing skills
• better presentation skills

1. Lectures: 18 hours

2. Seminar (scientific paper presentations): 4 hours

3. Case study seminars: 22 hours

4. Guidance: as needed

5. Self-study: 120 hours

6. Preparing case study: 90 hours