Project

Getting the most out of charitable giving: The benefits and risks of using prosocial incentives to stimulate employee effort and performance

Code
11P7K24N
Duration
01 November 2023 → 31 October 2027
Funding
Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
  • Social sciences
    • Accounting and auditing
Keywords
Prosocial incentives Corporate giving Management control
 
Project description

This research proposal will address how prosocial incentives can be used as a tool to direct employee behavior and, as such, become part of the management control system. Prosocial incentives are donations to charity that are directly tied to the work activities of the employee. They are considered to be an effective tool to stimulate employee effort and performance. However, not much is known about how, why, and when these incentives direct employee behavior. As such, this research proposal aims to answer the following research questions: (1) How do mandatory versus optional prosocial incentives interact with the organization’s transparency policy in stimulating effort and performance? (2) How important is the role of the broader CSR strategy of the organization for the effectiveness of prosocial incentives to increase employee effort and performance? (3) What is the effect of prosocial incentives on performance misreporting? By examining the role of the organization's transparency policy and the broader CSR strategy, I will get more insight into how and when prosocial incentives work to increase effort and performance. By assessing how prosocial incentives affect performance misreporting, I will address the possible risks that come with prosocial incentives. Importantly, this research also has some important implications for practitioners because it may inform management control system designers on how to implement prosocial incentives successfully.