Prospective memory (PM) refers to memory for future intentions and involves several cognitive processes including memory, executive functions, and attention. PM has been studied extensively in clinical populations in which these cognitive processes are impaired but has only recently been studied in Huntington’s disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disease of the basal ganglia that is associated with neuropsychiatric, movement, and cognitive changes. The purpose of the present study was to further examine PM in HD, as well as investigate the influence of impulsivity on PM performance and whether a monetary incentive (either reward or loss) would improve PM performance. Results of the current study indicated that overall individuals with HD performed worse on a PM task compared to Controls. Control participants evidenced significantly better PM performance when they could have potentially lost money compared to a Neutral PM task. HD participants demonstrated a similar pattern of findings at a trending significance level. Impulsivity, as measured by the total score on the BIS-11, was not related to PM performance in either group. Controls scored significantly higher on a self-reported measure of prospective and retrospective memory (PRMQ) relative to HD participants with a trending association between the PRMQ and PM performance in Controls, but no association in HD participants. While there was a significant difference between groups on a recognition test of PM cues, there was no difference between groups on a free recall test of PM task instructions. These results build upon previous research that has found PM deficits in HD by investigating possible factors that may improve PM performance in this clinical population. Future research should investigate other motivational factors that may further increase PM performance in HD.

The purpose of this study is to explore if monetary reward negatively affects people’s willingness to participate in crowdsourcing projects and to see how the relationship between monetary rewards and the framing of the crowdsourcing problem affects participation in crowdsourcing contests. A two-phase data collection method is used to answer these questions; a survey to identify the people who had participated in crowdsourcing projects and a focus group with the suitable candidates to discuss the research questions further. According to our findings, framing a crowdsourcing project as a good cause is not a strong enough motivation to convince people to participate in a challenge. People usually look for a benefit (financial or personal) in a challenge when deciding to participate. On the other hand, offering a reward for a crowdsourcing contest that is held for a good cause increases people’s willingness to participate. Potential participants react differently to a reward that is larger than usual. While more experienced participants feel extra motivated by large rewards, those who have less experience in crowdsourcing projects are more likely to see the large reward as a threat, decreasing their chances of winning, thus, reducing their willingness to participate in those challenges.

Using 641 principles of economics students across four universities, the authors examine whether providing monetary incentives in a prisoner's dilemma game enhances student learning as measured by a set of common exam questions. Subjects either play a two-player prisoner's dilemma game for real money, play the same game with no money at stake (i.e., play a hypothetical version), or are in a control group where no game is played. The authors find strong evidence that students who played the classroom game for real money earned higher test scores than students who played the hypothetical game or where no game was played. Their findings challenge the conventional wisdom that monetary incentives are unnecessary in classroom experiments.

No

Förmågan att motivera medarbetare har alltid varit en viktig fråga i alla olika typer av företag. Ett verktyg som kan användas för att skapa motivation bland de anställda är incitamentssystem, både monetära samt icke-monetära. Det finns inget tydligt svar i tidigare forskning kring vad för typ av incitamentssystem som uppfattas som mest effektiva när det kommer till att motivera anställda. Exempelvis har en del studier visat att monetära incitament så som bonus har en positiv effekt på motivationen på kort sikt. Samtidigt visar andra studier att monetära incitament inte alls fungerar. Således är syftet med denna studie att beskriva och analysera hur medarbetare upplever incitamentssystem med avseende på motivation. För att uppnå detta syfte har vi genomfört en kvalitativ flerfallstudie i två olika företag där det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom intervjuer. Studiens frågeställning: Hur upplevs incitamentssystem hos medarbetare inom olika branscher med avseende på motivation? Studien har visat att icke-monetära incitament har en betydande effekt på medarbetarnas motivation i båda fallföretagen. Vidare visar resultatet att de monetära incitamenten också upplevdes som viktiga, men det empiriska materialet gällande de monetära incitamenten följde inte samma röda tråd som de icke-monetära: ett av företagen upplevde de monetära incitamenten mer viktiga med avseende på motivation än det andra företaget. / The ability to motivate employees has always been an important question in all kind of companies. One way the create motivation among the employees is to use incentive systems, both monetary and non-monetary. There are no clear answers in previous theories what kind of incentive system that perceives as the most effective in terms of motivated employees. For example, some research has shown that monetary incentives such as bonus is an effective way to motivate employees in the short term, while others disagree. Accordingly, the purpose of the study is to describe and analyze how employees perceive current incentive systems in terms of motivation. To fulfill this purpose, we have done a qualitative multiple case study in two specific companies. The empirical material has been collected by interviews. The research question in the thesis is as follows: How are incentive systems perceived by employees in different line of businesses in terms of motivation? The empirical results show that non-monetary incentives have a significant impact on employees' motivation in both case studies. Furthermore, the monetary incentives perceived important as well in both case studies, but the empirical result indicated that monetary incentives didn’t follow the same consistent thread as it did in the non-monetary incentives: one of the case study perceived the monetary incentives as more important in terms of motivation than the other.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate to what extent non-monetary incentives are utilized in the public sector of Turkey and whether non-monetary incentives have the potential to increase the motivation of public employees as much as the monetary incentives. Incentive is any means that makes an employee desire to do better, try harder and expend more energy. Non-monetary incentives such as participation in decision making, verbal or written recognition of good work etc. are the kinds of incentives that do not involve direct payment of cash. To realize the objectives of the thesis, a survey study was administered at the General Directorate of Investment and Enterprises, under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. According to the results of the study, most of the employees think that the level of utilization of the non-monetary incentives in their organization is inadequate. Also, the findings suggest that they value non-monetary incentives as much as monetary incentives. Thus, within the limitations of the survey study, it may be concluded that non-monetary incentives have the potential to increase the motivation of personnel in this public organization.

E-waste is a growing problem across the world. With a higher living standard comes an increase in electronic product usage and subsequently discarding, which leads to negative environmental and human impact when discarded incorrectly. This improper discarding of E-waste is most prevalent in the small equipment category. Based on earlier research on reducing improper disposal of E-waste and characteristics of inducing behavioural change, this study examines the mediating impact of monetary incentives on people's willingness to recycle small waste electrical and electronic equipment (sWEEE) through a deposit-refund system (DRS). The study uses an extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to examine the mediating effect of monetary incentives and aims to examine which of the influencing factors of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control has the biggest impact on willingness to recycle sWEEE using a DRS. Data was collected through a quantitative method with a survey that was shared on social media. A sample of 152 was realised and the data was analysed by means of structural equation modelling, employing a partial least squares method using SmartPLS. The results showed that attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control did not have a significant impact on willingness to recycle sWEEE using a DRS. Furthermore, the mediating effect of monetary incentives showed that monetary incentives decrease willingness to recycle, which in turn impacts recycling behaviour. As the results are contrary to extant research, the findings warrant further research into the area.

This study examined the effect of a score card¬-based performance pay plan in a professional services firm. The plan was implemented in response to a decreasing trend in productivity and a desire for a formal incentive compensation plan. Performance of manager and senior manager accountants were analyzed across two departments over a five year period. A definitive account of the effects of the intervention is limited by the case-¬study design, but the data does suggest that the performance pay plans used did not adversely affect performances. Design limitations of the plan and future research are also discussed.

L’aléa moral est une source de distorsion économique. La prédiction classique dans un cadre simple est qu’une meilleure couverture conduit à un effort moindre. Cette thèse étudie dans quelle mesure cette prédiction est ou non vérifiée empiriquement dans des cadres plus complexes. Le premier chapitre s’intéresse aux absences pour raison de santé. La politique étudiée est le jour de carence pour arrêt maladie dans la fonction publique de l’Etat en France. Cette politique de remboursement moins généreuse a notamment pour but de réduire l’absentéisme. Elle conduit à une baisse de la prévalence des absences de courte durée. Mais elle conduit aussi à une hausse de la prévalence des absences de longue durée. En conséquence, la prévalence de l’ensemble des absences pour raison de santé reste inchangée. Les deux chapitres suivants s’intéressent aux systèmes de bonus-malus d’un assureur automobile irlandais. Le deuxième chapitre s’intéresse à l’introduction d’un état très protecteur : la protection à vie du bonus. Cette protection est octroyée automatiquement et gratuitement aux assurés sous des conditions restrictives d’historique de sinistre et d’ancienneté. Comparé à la situation dans laquelle cet état protecteur n’existe pas, le taux de sinistre des assurés protégés augmente, tandis que le taux de sinistre des agents non protégés diminue, dans l’espoir d’être récompensés par la protection. L’existence de la protection est à l’origine d’un transfert intertemporel. Les assurés renoncent à de l’utilité présente en exerçant un effort supérieur, afin d’être récompensés par la protection et de profiter d’une utilité future plus élevée due à un effort moindre. Le troisième chapitre étudie la réaction juste après que l’assuré est récompensé par la protection à vie du bonus. Le taux de sinistre augmente immédiatement, mais seulement quand la protection existe depuis quelque temps. Cela suggère que l'effet d'un changement incitatif dépend de sa nature, mais aussi de son contexte. / Moral hazard is a source of economic distortion. The classical prediction in a simple framework is that a better coverage leads to a lower effort. This thesis studies the extent to which this prediction is empirically verified in more complex settings. The first chapter focuses on health-related absences. The policy under study is the one-day waiting period for sick leave in the French central civil service. This less generous reimbursement policy notably aims at reducing absenteeism. It leads to a decrease in the prevalence of short-term absences. But it also leads to an increase in the prevalence of long-term absences. As a result, the prevalence of all health-related absences stay unchanged. The two following chapters focus on bonus-malus systems used by an Irish car insurer. The second chapter focuses of the introduction on a highly protecting state: the lifetime bonus protection. This protection is granted automatically and freely to insurees under restrictive conditions on past claims and seniority. Compared to the situation in which this protecting state does not exist, the claims rate of protected insurees increases, but the claims rate of unprotected insurees decreases, in the hope of being rewarded with the protection. The existence of the protection induces an intertemporal transfer. Insurees waive present utility by exerting more effort, so as to be rewarded with the protection and to enjoy more future utility due to lower future effort. The third chapter studies the reaction just after the insuree is rewarded with the lifetime bonus protection. The claims rate increases immediately, but only when the protection exists for some time. This suggests that the effect of an incentive change depends on its nature, but also on its context.

Visselblåsarbegreppet har blivit ett allt mer frekvent förekommande inslag inom den unionsrättsliga lagstiftningen, och vikten av att beskydda arbetstagare som bistår myndigheter med information som kan stoppa överträdelser har på senare år uppmärksammats och betonats världen över. I samband med en modernisering och uppdatering av den finansmarknadsrättsliga lagstiftningen, inte minst till följd av den tekniska utvecklingen inom området, valde EU:s lagstiftande organ att göra en markering mot fysiska och juridiska personer som ägnar sig åt överträdelser som kan vilseleda aktörerna på de finansiella marknaderna. Bland annat infördes, genom ett antal nya rättsakter, enhetliga sanktioner samt minimibestämmelser för kriminalisering av vissa ageranden. Vid framtagandet av lagstiftningen diskuterades även på EU-nivå huruvida ett potentiellt införande av ekonomiska incitament för visselblåsare som bidrar med värdefull information i fråga om marknadsmissbruk borde utgöra en del av det sociala skyddet för nämnda individer. Medlemsstaterna hade redan i samband med tidigare unionsöverskridande lagstiftning ålagts att vidta särskilda åtgärder för att säkerställa att visselblåsare erhåller skydd gentemot arbetsgivare avseende hämndaktioner, men här, tydligt inspirerade av den amerikanska lagstiftningen i motsvarande område, öppnade EU för första gången för att låta unionsmedlemmarna erbjuda monetära utbetalningar till visselblåsare. I förevarande uppsats presenteras den aktuella EU-lagstiftningen samt den inhemska lagstiftning som bestämmelserna genererat i Sverige. Nämnda inslag sätts i relation till den amerikanska visselblåsarlagstiftningen. En redogörelse för lagstiftningens mottagande och effekt – kombinerat med teoretiska såväl som statistiska studier avseende ekonomiska incitament kopplat till visselblåsning – används för att besvara frågan huruvida ett införande av nämnda incitament skulle kunna utgöra ett ändamålsenligt inslag inom den svenska lagstiftningen. Min argumentation, vilken presenteras i analysdelen, utmynnar i ståndpunkten att ekonomiska incitament mycket väl skulle kunna utgöra en funktionell beståndsdel av visselblåsarskyddet, men att lagstiftningens utformning och det praktiska utförandet skulle kunna optimeras jämfört med dess amerikanska motsvarighet. Vidare vill jag i analysavsnittet betona vikten av ett skifte i inställning och attityd inom europeisk rättskultur gentemot visselblåsare.