Skip to main content

Incentive Contracts

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Book cover The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
  • 305 Accesses

Abstract

Incentives are the essence of economics. The most basic concept, demand, considers how to induce a consumer to buy more of a particular good; that is, how to give him an incentive to purchase. Similarly, supply relationships are descriptions of how agents respond with more output or labour to additional compensation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 6,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 8,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Becker, G.S. 1962. Investment in human capital: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Political Economy 70: 9–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G.S. 1975. Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education, 2nd ed. New York: Columbia University Press for the National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G.S., and G.J. Stigler. 1974. Law enforcement, malfeasance, and compensation of enforcers. Journal of Legal Studies 3: 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calvo, G., and S. Wellisz. 1978. Supervision, loss of control and optimum size of the firm. Journal of Political Economy 86: 943–952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, H.L. 1983. The agent–agents problem: Payment by relative output. Journal of Labor Economics 1: 50–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, S.N.S. 1969. The theory of share tenancy: With special application to Asian agriculture and the first phase of Taiwan land reform. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • d’Aspremont, C., and L.A. Gerard-Varet. 1979. Incentives and incomplete information. Journal of Public Economics 11: 25–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fama, E. 1980. Agency problems and the theory of the firm. Journal of Political Economy 88: 288–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan, L.-S. 1975. On the reward system. American Economic Review 65: 226–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, J.R. 1976. On the optimal structure of liability laws. Bell Journal of Economics 7: 553–574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, J.R., and C. Kahn. 1983. Wage employment contracts. Quarterly Journal of Economics 98: 173–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, J.R., and N.L. Stokey. 1983. A comparison of tournaments and contracts. Journal of Political Economy 91: 349–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grossman, S., and O. Hart. 1983. Implicit contracts under asymmetric information. Quarterly Journal of Economics 71: 123–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, R.E., and E.P. Lazear. 1984. The excess sensitivity of layoffs and quits to demand. Journal of Labor Economics 2: 233–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, R.E., and D. Lilien. 1979. Efficient wage bargains under uncertain supply and demand. American Economic Review 69: 868–879.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, M., and B. Hölmstrom. 1982. A theory of wage dynamics. Review of Economic Studies 49: 315–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, M., and A. Raviv. 1979. Optimal incentive contracts with imperfect information. Journal of Economic Theory 20(2): 231–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, M., and R. Townsend. 1981. Resource allocation under asymmetric information. Econometrica 49: 33–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hashimoto, M., and B. Yu. 1980. Specific capital, employment contracts, and wage rigidity. Bell Journal of Economics 536–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hölmstrom, B. 1979. Moral hazard and observability. Bell Journal of Economics 10: 74–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hölmstrom, B. 1982. Moral hazard in teams. Bell Journal of Economics 13: 324–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchens, R. 1986a. Delayed payment contracts and a firm’s propensity to hire older workers. Journal of Labor Economics 4(4): 439–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchens, R. 1986b. An empirical test of Lazear’s theory of delayed payment contracts. Working paper, Cornell University Institute for Labor and Industrial Relations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D.G. 1950. Resource allocation under share contracts. Journal of Political Economy 58: 111–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennan, J. 1979. Bonding and the enforcement of labor contracts. Economic Letters 3: 61–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, P.J. 1986. Wages, effort, and incentive compatibility in life-cycle employment contracts. Journal of Labor Economics 4: 28–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazear, E.P. 1979. Why is there mandatory retirement? Journal of Political Economy 87: 1261–1284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazear, E.P. 1981. Agency, earnings profiles, productivity and hours restrictions. American Economic Review 71: 606–620.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazear, E.P. 1986. Salaries and piece rates. Journal of Business 59(3): 405–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazear, E.P., and S. Rosen. 1981. Rank order tournaments as optimum labor contracts. Journal of Political Economy 89: 841–864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mirrlees, J.A. 1976. The optimal structure of incentives with authority within an organization. Bell Journal of Economics 7: 105–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nalebuff, B.J., and J.E. Stiglitz. 1983. Prizes and incentives: Toward a general theory of compensation and competition. Bell Journal of Economics 14: 21–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polinsky, A.M. 1980. Strict liability vs. negligence in a market setting. American Economic Review 70(2): 363–367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogerson, W.P. 1985. Repeated moral hazard. Econometrica 53: 69–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, S.A. 1973. The economic theory of agency: The principal’s problem. American Economic Review 63: 134–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothschild, M., and J.E. Stiglitz. 1976. Equilibrium in competitive insurance markets: An essay on the economics of imperfect information. Quarterly Journal of Economics 90: 629–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salop, J., and S. Salop. 1976. Self-selection and turnover in the labor market. Quarterly Journal of Economics 90: 619–627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shavell, S. 1980. Strict liability versus negligence. Journal of Legal Studies 1–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, A.M. 1973. Job market signalling. Quarterly Journal of Economics 87: 355–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J.E. 1974. Incentive and risk sharing in sharecropping. Review of Economic Studies 41: 219–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J.E. 1975. Incentives, risk, and information: Notes toward a theory of hierarchy. Bell Journal of Economics and Management Science 6: 552–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vickrey, W. 1961. Counterspeculation, auctions, and competitive sealed tenders. Journal of Finance 16: 8–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzman, M. 1976. The new Soviet incentive model. Bell Journal of Economics 7(1): 251–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzman, M. 1980. The ‘Ratchet Principle’ and performance incentives. Bell Journal of Economics 11(1): 302–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Copyright information

© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Lazear, E.P. (2018). Incentive Contracts. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1156

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics