Timothy Gubler | University of California, Riverside (original) (raw)

Papers by Timothy Gubler

Social Science Research Network, 2021

Organizations face unique challenges when simultaneously pursuing conflicting organization-level ... more Organizations face unique challenges when simultaneously pursuing conflicting organization-level objectives. We study how frontline employees deal with competing financial and social objectives within the context of Emergency Medical Services. Using data from 31 US states, we find that even in the absence of direct financial incentives, emergency crews are responsive to the financial objective of their agencies by providing differential service to patients based on their ability to pay. Private insurance and Medicare patients receive more procedures (6.1% and 1.9%) and have longer transport times (5.3% and 4.0%) than Medicaid patients after controlling for call and patient characteristics. Importantly, we also find evidence suggesting that EMS crews vacillate between the financial and social objectives between calls, depending on the relative salience of the objective.

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2023

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2018

Springer eBooks, Dec 18, 2008

Within the last generation, cancer survivors’ quality of life has improved significantly. As rece... more Within the last generation, cancer survivors’ quality of life has improved significantly. As recently as 25 years ago, less than one half of those diagnosed with cancer survived more than five years [1]. Treatments were less precise and more disabling. Misunderstandings about cancer risks and options were common. As a result, cancer survivors experienced substantial problems obtaining and retaining employment

Social Science Research Network, 2016

While studies have argued for and found benefits from transacting with social affiliates, it rema... more While studies have argued for and found benefits from transacting with social affiliates, it remains unclear how and when they lead to inferior outcomes for professionals and consumers. Building on social and human capital theories, I argue that social affiliations in uncertain markets can lead to unanticipated downsides that reduce overall performance when human capital considerations are supplanted by an effort to avoid opportunism. I test my argument using a novel approach that pairs data from the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service in Utah with hand-collected data on geographically assigned LDS (Mormon) congregation boundaries. This setting allows me to identify listings for which real estate agents and home sellers share a common church congregation affiliation, and to both independently and jointly explore the impact of social affiliations and human capital on transaction outcomes. I find that on average agents sell comparable homes for 2% more and 3.5 days quicker, as well as exert more care and effort through marketing, when listing for affiliates. However, consistent with my theory, I find that sellers are much more likely to use inexperienced agents or agents with poor fit (i.e., specialize primarily in buying homes) when affiliations are present. Such cases result in lower sale prices and reduced agent performance, suggesting a downside to social ties from human capital deficiencies. These results indicate a more nuanced view of social capital is needed that incorporates the selection process and the potential for poor fit in transactions.

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2016

This paper investigates how social affiliations between real estate listing agents and home selle... more This paper investigates how social affiliations between real estate listing agents and home sellers impacts the agent selection process, and the types of transactions agents engage in. While many s...

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2017

While social capital has been found to play an important role in economic transactions when infor... more While social capital has been found to play an important role in economic transactions when information is incomplete, it remains unclear how it interacts with human capital in transaction performance. This paper explores the complementarity between social affiliations and human capital in transaction performance, and how affiliations influence the match between qualified professionals and consumers. I argue that human capital is important to professional performance, but that social affiliations lead consumers to increasingly match with lower human capital professionals. Thus, while social and human capital function as complements in transaction performance, social capital can substitute for human capital in the selection process. I test my argument using a novel approach that pairs data from a primary real estate multiple listing service in Utah with hand-collected data on geographically assigned church congregation boundaries. This setting allows me to identify listings for which real estate agents and home sellers share a common church congregation, and to explore the impact of this affiliation, as well as human capital variables, on transaction outcomes. I find that agent performance improves when listing for affiliates, on average, and that gains increase with agent human capital. However, consistent with my theory, I find that sellers are more likely to use inexperienced and underqualified affiliated agents. Human capital deficiencies reduce benefits from social affiliations and lead to inferior transaction outcomes in extreme cases. This suggests a new underexplored dark side to social capital from human capital deficiencies, which is driven by the selection process under incomplete information.

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2015

While many studies have emphasized the efficiency and cost benefits from transacting within socia... more While many studies have emphasized the efficiency and cost benefits from transacting within social structures, it remains unclear the extent to which experts and firms can create and appropriate va...

Social Science Research Network, 2020

Buyers typically strive to negotiate low prices for durable goods. Psychologically-salient round ... more Buyers typically strive to negotiate low prices for durable goods. Psychologically-salient round number reference points (e.g., 10,000)influencethesepurchasingdecisions.However,existingresearchdoesnotcapturehowthesehistoricalreferencepointsinfluencetheanchoringeffectofprevioussalespricesonfuturevaluations.Wearguethattheanchoringeffectofpriorsalespricesonsubsequentpricesisdiscontinuousatroundnumbers,suchthatitmattersdisproportionatelywhetheraprevioussalespricereachedaround−numberthreshold.Buyerspayingapricejustbelowaroundnumbermaysacrificemoneybecausetheyreceivedisproportionatelylesswhenresellingthegood.Wefurtherarguethatwhilemarketforcesareunlikelytoattenuatethiseffect,highly−experiencedprofessionalintermediariesmay.Usingdataonover13,000repeatrealestatetransactions,wefindthathomebuyerswhopreviouslypaidjustundera10,000) influence these purchasing decisions. However, existing research does not capture how these historical reference points influence the anchoring effect of previous sales prices on future valuations. We argue that the anchoring effect of prior sales prices on subsequent prices is discontinuous at round numbers, such that it matters disproportionately whether a previous sales price reached a round-number threshold. Buyers paying a price just below a round number may sacrifice money because they receive disproportionately less when reselling the good. We further argue that while market forces are unlikely to attenuate this effect, highly-experienced professional intermediaries may. Using data on over 13,000 repeat real estate transactions, we find that home buyers who previously paid just under a 10,000)influencethesepurchasingdecisions.However,existingresearchdoesnotcapturehowthesehistoricalreferencepointsinfluencetheanchoringeffectofprevioussalespricesonfuturevaluations.Wearguethattheanchoringeffectofpriorsalespricesonsubsequentpricesisdiscontinuousatroundnumbers,suchthatitmattersdisproportionatelywhetheraprevioussalespricereachedaround−numberthreshold.Buyerspayingapricejustbelowaroundnumbermaysacrificemoneybecausetheyreceivedisproportionatelylesswhenresellingthegood.Wefurtherarguethatwhilemarketforcesareunlikelytoattenuatethiseffect,highly−experiencedprofessionalintermediariesmay.Usingdataonover13,000repeatrealestatetransactions,wefindthathomebuyerswhopreviouslypaidjustundera10,000 reference point subsequently list and sell their homes for about 1.3 percent (over 2000)lessonaveragethandobuyerssellingcomparablehomeswhopreviouslypaidatorabovearoundnumberthreshold.Thisdropisobservablecontrollingforhomecharacteristicsandthegeneralrelationshipbetweenpreviousandcurrentprices.Buyerswhocrossa2000) less on average than do buyers selling comparable homes who previously paid at or above a round number threshold. This drop is observable controlling for home characteristics and the general relationship between previous and current prices. Buyers who cross a 2000)lessonaveragethandobuyerssellingcomparablehomeswhopreviouslypaidatorabovearoundnumberthreshold.Thisdropisobservablecontrollingforhomecharacteristicsandthegeneralrelationshipbetweenpreviousandcurrentprices.Buyerswhocrossa10,000 threshold by paying $1000 more therefore would earn a return of 215%. An experiment with 1010 participants replicates these findings and increases confidence in causality. Market mechanisms, the negotiation process, and organizational support provided to intermediaries does not correct substantively for these discontinuities: Lower initial listing prices persist to final sales prices. However, using a highly-experienced agent attenuates intergenerational pricing bias.

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2019

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2013

Motivating employees to productively perform tasks beneficial to the firm is at the core of organ... more Motivating employees to productively perform tasks beneficial to the firm is at the core of organizational research. Not surprisingly, much research has focused on how organizations can harness the power of both pecuniary and non-pecuniary motivation to encourage productive behavior. While it is well understood that individuals respond to both types of incentives, much of the empirical work to date, particularly in the field, has only focused on one or the other, often resulting in an oversimplified view of employee motivation. The purpose of this symposium is to present four state-of-the-science empirical papers that look at the impact of pecuniary and non-pecuniary motivation in tandem, with an emphasis on how these motivations impact employee and firm performance. The primary focus is on incorporating archival and behavioural field data to build on foundations laid by laboratory experiments, survey methods, and qualitative methods. Overall this symposium highlights the considerable knowledge and manage...

Organization Science, Oct 22, 2022

This paper examines how people price the resale of durable goods in systematically biased ways. W... more This paper examines how people price the resale of durable goods in systematically biased ways. We show across four studies that the anchoring effect of durable goods’ prior sales prices on subsequent valuations is discontinuous at psychologically salient round number reference points (e.g., 10,000increments)becausethesenumberscreatequalitativedifferencesinhowpeopleperceivevaluesbelowthemversusvaluesat/abovethem.Resellerssetdisproportionatelylargersubsequentpriceswhenpreviouspricesmovefromjustbelowroundnumberthresholds(e.g.,10,000 increments) because these numbers create qualitative differences in how people perceive values below them versus values at/above them. Resellers set disproportionately larger subsequent prices when previous prices move from just below round number thresholds (e.g., 10,000increments)becausethesenumberscreatequalitativedifferencesinhowpeopleperceivevaluesbelowthemversusvaluesat/abovethem.Resellerssetdisproportionatelylargersubsequentpriceswhenpreviouspricesmovefromjustbelowroundnumberthresholds(e.g.,349,000) to those at or just above these thresholds (e.g., 351,000).Thefindingsshowthatbuyerswhopayapricejustbelowaroundnumber,therefore,maysacrificemoneybecausetheyreceivedisproportionatelylesswhenresellingthegood.Marketforcesonlypartiallyattenuatethispricingbias,butvaluatorexperienceseemstoplayamoderatingrole.Archivaldatashowthathomebuyerswhopreviouslypaidjustundera351,000). The findings show that buyers who pay a price just below a round number, therefore, may sacrifice money because they receive disproportionately less when reselling the good. Market forces only partially attenuate this pricing bias, but valuator experience seems to play a moderating role. Archival data show that home buyers who previously paid just under a 351,000).Thefindingsshowthatbuyerswhopayapricejustbelowaroundnumber,therefore,maysacrificemoneybecausetheyreceivedisproportionatelylesswhenresellingthegood.Marketforcesonlypartiallyattenuatethispricingbias,butvaluatorexperienceseemstoplayamoderatingrole.Archivaldatashowthathomebuyerswhopreviouslypaidjustundera10,000 reference point subsequently listed their homes for about 1.8% (over $3,700) less on average than did buyers selling comparable homes who previously paid at or above a round number threshold. This drop is observable controlling for home characteristics and the general relationship between previous and current prices. Three experimental studies looking at housing and used car markets replicate these findings, highlight the mechanism, and increase confidence in causality. Market mechanisms and the negotiation process attenuate discontinuities by about 30%, but lower initial listing prices persist to final sales prices. We find additional weak evidence suggesting that valuator experience may attenuate intergenerational pricing bias.

Social Science Research Network, 2020

We investigate how alignment between firm and individual-level human capital resources influences... more We investigate how alignment between firm and individual-level human capital resources influences firm performance. We argue that a high degree of alignment between the firm and individual levels increases human capital utilization, coordination, and transfer. Drawing on Utah residential real estate data from 1996-2014, we find that brokerages with higher brokerage-agent human capital alignment engage in more transactions than brokerages with lower alignment. These benefits increase with firm size. We also find that individual-level human capital similarity in the first year significantly influences firm-individual alignment in subsequent years. These results suggest that managers from founding onward must carefully craft and manage alignment in individual and firm-level human capital resources to generate persistent performance advantages that are resistant to turnover and difficult for competitors to replicate.

Organization Science, Mar 1, 2016

This paper uses data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laund... more This paper uses data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laundry plants to show the complex costs of corporate awards previously ignored in the literature. We show that although the attendance award had direct, positive effects on employees who had previously had punctuality problems, it also led to strategic gaming behavior centered on the specific eligibility criteria for the award. The award program temporary changed behavior in award-eligible workers, but did not habituate improved attendance. Furthermore, we show that the extrinsic reward from the award program crowded out the internal motivation of those employees who had previously demonstrated excellent attendance, generating worse punctuality during periods of ineligibility. Most novelly, we show that the attendance award program also crowded out internal motivation and performance in tasks not included in the award program. Workers with above average pre-program attendance lost 8% efficiency in daily laundry tasks after the program's introduction. We argue that these motivation spillovers result from the inequity of internally-motivated workers' previously unrewarded superior attendance contributions. Our paper suggests that even purely symbolic awards can generate gaming and crowding out costs that may spill over to other important tasks.

Management Science, Nov 1, 2018

This paper provides the first evidence linking a panel of individual medical data from a corporat... more This paper provides the first evidence linking a panel of individual medical data from a corporate wellness program with objective productivity improvements in industrial workers. Almost 90% of companies use corporate wellness programs designed to improve employee health. Existing research has focused on measuring cost savings from reduced insurance rates and absenteeism. In contrast, our paper explains and empirically tests how wellness programs can improve employee productivity, and thereby firm performance. We argue that productivity improvement can arise from two sources. First, wellness programs can increase job motivation through improved satisfaction for all workers and gratitude or reciprocity from those who discover a previously-undiagnosed illness. Second, wellness programs increase employee capability by spurring them to take actions that improve health, well-being and ultimately productivity. We test these predictions using a wellness program implemented at multiple plants of an industrial laundry company. Using a three-year panel of individual productivity and medical data, we find program participation increased productivity by 5%, compared to non-participants, regardless of pre-existing health levels or post-program health changes, suggesting increased job satisfaction for participants. Moreover, many sick and healthy individuals improved their health, increasing productivity by 11%. Surveys indicate that many employees, regardless of pre-existing health levels, improved their diet and exercise from the program. Overall this study suggests that firms can increase operational productivity through socially responsible firm health policies that improve both workers' wellness and economic value.

Strategic Management Journal, Aug 29, 2019

Research summary: This article theorizes that social capital produced by social affiliations allo... more Research summary: This article theorizes that social capital produced by social affiliations allows service professionals to gain access to higher-value transactions through increased reputation for trustworthiness, which then aids them in further building reputation and engaging in entrepreneurship. Using a unique approach that pairs Utah residential real estate data with church congregation boundaries, we find that affiliations enable real estate agents to list 14% more expensive homes, and to consequently build reputation useful for future nonaffiliated transactions. We observe large reputation-building benefits for early-career agents, particularly for agents in lowreputation firms. Strikingly, we find this lowers entrepreneurship entry by 6%. These results imply that social affiliations can substitute for reputation in selection, enabling professionals to build reputation, which then has important career implications. Managerial summary: This article explores how social relationships between real estate agents and home sellers influence the value of transactions agents engage in. Sellers increasingly trust agents with whom they share a social affiliation, which allows agents to better secure high-value listings and build reputation. This benefits agent in securing future valuable transactions with nonaffiliated clients. Using residential real estate data and Real estate listing data were provided courtesy of the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service (WFRMLS). WFRMLS has not reviewed or verified any of the numbers or statistics in this article.

Psychological Science, Jun 27, 2014

Are poor physical and financial health driven by the same underlying psychological factors? We fo... more Are poor physical and financial health driven by the same underlying psychological factors? We found that the decision to contribute to a 401(k) retirement plan predicted whether an individual acted to correct poor physical-health indicators revealed during an employer-sponsored health examination. Using this examination as a quasi-exogenous shock to employees' personal-health knowledge, we examined which employees were more likely to improve their health, controlling for differences in initial health, demographics, job type, and income. We found that existing retirement-contribution patterns and future health improvements were highly correlated. Employees who saved for the future by contributing to a 401(k) showed improvements in their abnormal blood-test results and health behaviors approximately 27% more often than noncontributors did. These findings are consistent with an underlying individual time-discounting trait that is both difficult to change and domain interdependent, and that predicts long-term individual behaviors in multiple dimensions.

Social Science Research Network, 2013

This paper uses data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laund... more This paper uses data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laundry plants to show the complex costs of corporate awards previously ignored in the literature. We show that although the attendance award had direct, positive effects on employees who had previously had punctuality problems, it also led to strategic gaming behavior centered on the specific eligibility criteria for the award. The award program temporary changed behavior in award-eligible workers, but did not habituate improved attendance. Furthermore, we show that the extrinsic reward from the award program crowded out the internal motivation of those employees who had previously demonstrated excellent attendance, generating worse punctuality during periods of ineligibility. Most novelly, we show that the attendance award program also crowded out internal motivation and performance in tasks not included in the award program. Workers with above average pre-program attendance lost 8% efficiency in daily laundry tasks after the program's introduction. We argue that these motivation spillovers result from the inequity of internally-motivated workers' previously unrewarded superior attendance contributions. Our paper suggests that even purely symbolic awards can generate gaming and crowding out costs that may spill over to other important tasks.

Social Science Research Network, 2021

Organizations face unique challenges when simultaneously pursuing conflicting organization-level ... more Organizations face unique challenges when simultaneously pursuing conflicting organization-level objectives. We study how frontline employees deal with competing financial and social objectives within the context of Emergency Medical Services. Using data from 31 US states, we find that even in the absence of direct financial incentives, emergency crews are responsive to the financial objective of their agencies by providing differential service to patients based on their ability to pay. Private insurance and Medicare patients receive more procedures (6.1% and 1.9%) and have longer transport times (5.3% and 4.0%) than Medicaid patients after controlling for call and patient characteristics. Importantly, we also find evidence suggesting that EMS crews vacillate between the financial and social objectives between calls, depending on the relative salience of the objective.

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2023

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2018

Springer eBooks, Dec 18, 2008

Within the last generation, cancer survivors’ quality of life has improved significantly. As rece... more Within the last generation, cancer survivors’ quality of life has improved significantly. As recently as 25 years ago, less than one half of those diagnosed with cancer survived more than five years [1]. Treatments were less precise and more disabling. Misunderstandings about cancer risks and options were common. As a result, cancer survivors experienced substantial problems obtaining and retaining employment

Social Science Research Network, 2016

While studies have argued for and found benefits from transacting with social affiliates, it rema... more While studies have argued for and found benefits from transacting with social affiliates, it remains unclear how and when they lead to inferior outcomes for professionals and consumers. Building on social and human capital theories, I argue that social affiliations in uncertain markets can lead to unanticipated downsides that reduce overall performance when human capital considerations are supplanted by an effort to avoid opportunism. I test my argument using a novel approach that pairs data from the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service in Utah with hand-collected data on geographically assigned LDS (Mormon) congregation boundaries. This setting allows me to identify listings for which real estate agents and home sellers share a common church congregation affiliation, and to both independently and jointly explore the impact of social affiliations and human capital on transaction outcomes. I find that on average agents sell comparable homes for 2% more and 3.5 days quicker, as well as exert more care and effort through marketing, when listing for affiliates. However, consistent with my theory, I find that sellers are much more likely to use inexperienced agents or agents with poor fit (i.e., specialize primarily in buying homes) when affiliations are present. Such cases result in lower sale prices and reduced agent performance, suggesting a downside to social ties from human capital deficiencies. These results indicate a more nuanced view of social capital is needed that incorporates the selection process and the potential for poor fit in transactions.

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2016

This paper investigates how social affiliations between real estate listing agents and home selle... more This paper investigates how social affiliations between real estate listing agents and home sellers impacts the agent selection process, and the types of transactions agents engage in. While many s...

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2017

While social capital has been found to play an important role in economic transactions when infor... more While social capital has been found to play an important role in economic transactions when information is incomplete, it remains unclear how it interacts with human capital in transaction performance. This paper explores the complementarity between social affiliations and human capital in transaction performance, and how affiliations influence the match between qualified professionals and consumers. I argue that human capital is important to professional performance, but that social affiliations lead consumers to increasingly match with lower human capital professionals. Thus, while social and human capital function as complements in transaction performance, social capital can substitute for human capital in the selection process. I test my argument using a novel approach that pairs data from a primary real estate multiple listing service in Utah with hand-collected data on geographically assigned church congregation boundaries. This setting allows me to identify listings for which real estate agents and home sellers share a common church congregation, and to explore the impact of this affiliation, as well as human capital variables, on transaction outcomes. I find that agent performance improves when listing for affiliates, on average, and that gains increase with agent human capital. However, consistent with my theory, I find that sellers are more likely to use inexperienced and underqualified affiliated agents. Human capital deficiencies reduce benefits from social affiliations and lead to inferior transaction outcomes in extreme cases. This suggests a new underexplored dark side to social capital from human capital deficiencies, which is driven by the selection process under incomplete information.

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2015

While many studies have emphasized the efficiency and cost benefits from transacting within socia... more While many studies have emphasized the efficiency and cost benefits from transacting within social structures, it remains unclear the extent to which experts and firms can create and appropriate va...

Social Science Research Network, 2020

Buyers typically strive to negotiate low prices for durable goods. Psychologically-salient round ... more Buyers typically strive to negotiate low prices for durable goods. Psychologically-salient round number reference points (e.g., 10,000)influencethesepurchasingdecisions.However,existingresearchdoesnotcapturehowthesehistoricalreferencepointsinfluencetheanchoringeffectofprevioussalespricesonfuturevaluations.Wearguethattheanchoringeffectofpriorsalespricesonsubsequentpricesisdiscontinuousatroundnumbers,suchthatitmattersdisproportionatelywhetheraprevioussalespricereachedaround−numberthreshold.Buyerspayingapricejustbelowaroundnumbermaysacrificemoneybecausetheyreceivedisproportionatelylesswhenresellingthegood.Wefurtherarguethatwhilemarketforcesareunlikelytoattenuatethiseffect,highly−experiencedprofessionalintermediariesmay.Usingdataonover13,000repeatrealestatetransactions,wefindthathomebuyerswhopreviouslypaidjustundera10,000) influence these purchasing decisions. However, existing research does not capture how these historical reference points influence the anchoring effect of previous sales prices on future valuations. We argue that the anchoring effect of prior sales prices on subsequent prices is discontinuous at round numbers, such that it matters disproportionately whether a previous sales price reached a round-number threshold. Buyers paying a price just below a round number may sacrifice money because they receive disproportionately less when reselling the good. We further argue that while market forces are unlikely to attenuate this effect, highly-experienced professional intermediaries may. Using data on over 13,000 repeat real estate transactions, we find that home buyers who previously paid just under a 10,000)influencethesepurchasingdecisions.However,existingresearchdoesnotcapturehowthesehistoricalreferencepointsinfluencetheanchoringeffectofprevioussalespricesonfuturevaluations.Wearguethattheanchoringeffectofpriorsalespricesonsubsequentpricesisdiscontinuousatroundnumbers,suchthatitmattersdisproportionatelywhetheraprevioussalespricereachedaround−numberthreshold.Buyerspayingapricejustbelowaroundnumbermaysacrificemoneybecausetheyreceivedisproportionatelylesswhenresellingthegood.Wefurtherarguethatwhilemarketforcesareunlikelytoattenuatethiseffect,highly−experiencedprofessionalintermediariesmay.Usingdataonover13,000repeatrealestatetransactions,wefindthathomebuyerswhopreviouslypaidjustundera10,000 reference point subsequently list and sell their homes for about 1.3 percent (over 2000)lessonaveragethandobuyerssellingcomparablehomeswhopreviouslypaidatorabovearoundnumberthreshold.Thisdropisobservablecontrollingforhomecharacteristicsandthegeneralrelationshipbetweenpreviousandcurrentprices.Buyerswhocrossa2000) less on average than do buyers selling comparable homes who previously paid at or above a round number threshold. This drop is observable controlling for home characteristics and the general relationship between previous and current prices. Buyers who cross a 2000)lessonaveragethandobuyerssellingcomparablehomeswhopreviouslypaidatorabovearoundnumberthreshold.Thisdropisobservablecontrollingforhomecharacteristicsandthegeneralrelationshipbetweenpreviousandcurrentprices.Buyerswhocrossa10,000 threshold by paying $1000 more therefore would earn a return of 215%. An experiment with 1010 participants replicates these findings and increases confidence in causality. Market mechanisms, the negotiation process, and organizational support provided to intermediaries does not correct substantively for these discontinuities: Lower initial listing prices persist to final sales prices. However, using a highly-experienced agent attenuates intergenerational pricing bias.

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2019

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2013

Motivating employees to productively perform tasks beneficial to the firm is at the core of organ... more Motivating employees to productively perform tasks beneficial to the firm is at the core of organizational research. Not surprisingly, much research has focused on how organizations can harness the power of both pecuniary and non-pecuniary motivation to encourage productive behavior. While it is well understood that individuals respond to both types of incentives, much of the empirical work to date, particularly in the field, has only focused on one or the other, often resulting in an oversimplified view of employee motivation. The purpose of this symposium is to present four state-of-the-science empirical papers that look at the impact of pecuniary and non-pecuniary motivation in tandem, with an emphasis on how these motivations impact employee and firm performance. The primary focus is on incorporating archival and behavioural field data to build on foundations laid by laboratory experiments, survey methods, and qualitative methods. Overall this symposium highlights the considerable knowledge and manage...

Organization Science, Oct 22, 2022

This paper examines how people price the resale of durable goods in systematically biased ways. W... more This paper examines how people price the resale of durable goods in systematically biased ways. We show across four studies that the anchoring effect of durable goods’ prior sales prices on subsequent valuations is discontinuous at psychologically salient round number reference points (e.g., 10,000increments)becausethesenumberscreatequalitativedifferencesinhowpeopleperceivevaluesbelowthemversusvaluesat/abovethem.Resellerssetdisproportionatelylargersubsequentpriceswhenpreviouspricesmovefromjustbelowroundnumberthresholds(e.g.,10,000 increments) because these numbers create qualitative differences in how people perceive values below them versus values at/above them. Resellers set disproportionately larger subsequent prices when previous prices move from just below round number thresholds (e.g., 10,000increments)becausethesenumberscreatequalitativedifferencesinhowpeopleperceivevaluesbelowthemversusvaluesat/abovethem.Resellerssetdisproportionatelylargersubsequentpriceswhenpreviouspricesmovefromjustbelowroundnumberthresholds(e.g.,349,000) to those at or just above these thresholds (e.g., 351,000).Thefindingsshowthatbuyerswhopayapricejustbelowaroundnumber,therefore,maysacrificemoneybecausetheyreceivedisproportionatelylesswhenresellingthegood.Marketforcesonlypartiallyattenuatethispricingbias,butvaluatorexperienceseemstoplayamoderatingrole.Archivaldatashowthathomebuyerswhopreviouslypaidjustundera351,000). The findings show that buyers who pay a price just below a round number, therefore, may sacrifice money because they receive disproportionately less when reselling the good. Market forces only partially attenuate this pricing bias, but valuator experience seems to play a moderating role. Archival data show that home buyers who previously paid just under a 351,000).Thefindingsshowthatbuyerswhopayapricejustbelowaroundnumber,therefore,maysacrificemoneybecausetheyreceivedisproportionatelylesswhenresellingthegood.Marketforcesonlypartiallyattenuatethispricingbias,butvaluatorexperienceseemstoplayamoderatingrole.Archivaldatashowthathomebuyerswhopreviouslypaidjustundera10,000 reference point subsequently listed their homes for about 1.8% (over $3,700) less on average than did buyers selling comparable homes who previously paid at or above a round number threshold. This drop is observable controlling for home characteristics and the general relationship between previous and current prices. Three experimental studies looking at housing and used car markets replicate these findings, highlight the mechanism, and increase confidence in causality. Market mechanisms and the negotiation process attenuate discontinuities by about 30%, but lower initial listing prices persist to final sales prices. We find additional weak evidence suggesting that valuator experience may attenuate intergenerational pricing bias.

Social Science Research Network, 2020

We investigate how alignment between firm and individual-level human capital resources influences... more We investigate how alignment between firm and individual-level human capital resources influences firm performance. We argue that a high degree of alignment between the firm and individual levels increases human capital utilization, coordination, and transfer. Drawing on Utah residential real estate data from 1996-2014, we find that brokerages with higher brokerage-agent human capital alignment engage in more transactions than brokerages with lower alignment. These benefits increase with firm size. We also find that individual-level human capital similarity in the first year significantly influences firm-individual alignment in subsequent years. These results suggest that managers from founding onward must carefully craft and manage alignment in individual and firm-level human capital resources to generate persistent performance advantages that are resistant to turnover and difficult for competitors to replicate.

Organization Science, Mar 1, 2016

This paper uses data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laund... more This paper uses data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laundry plants to show the complex costs of corporate awards previously ignored in the literature. We show that although the attendance award had direct, positive effects on employees who had previously had punctuality problems, it also led to strategic gaming behavior centered on the specific eligibility criteria for the award. The award program temporary changed behavior in award-eligible workers, but did not habituate improved attendance. Furthermore, we show that the extrinsic reward from the award program crowded out the internal motivation of those employees who had previously demonstrated excellent attendance, generating worse punctuality during periods of ineligibility. Most novelly, we show that the attendance award program also crowded out internal motivation and performance in tasks not included in the award program. Workers with above average pre-program attendance lost 8% efficiency in daily laundry tasks after the program's introduction. We argue that these motivation spillovers result from the inequity of internally-motivated workers' previously unrewarded superior attendance contributions. Our paper suggests that even purely symbolic awards can generate gaming and crowding out costs that may spill over to other important tasks.

Management Science, Nov 1, 2018

This paper provides the first evidence linking a panel of individual medical data from a corporat... more This paper provides the first evidence linking a panel of individual medical data from a corporate wellness program with objective productivity improvements in industrial workers. Almost 90% of companies use corporate wellness programs designed to improve employee health. Existing research has focused on measuring cost savings from reduced insurance rates and absenteeism. In contrast, our paper explains and empirically tests how wellness programs can improve employee productivity, and thereby firm performance. We argue that productivity improvement can arise from two sources. First, wellness programs can increase job motivation through improved satisfaction for all workers and gratitude or reciprocity from those who discover a previously-undiagnosed illness. Second, wellness programs increase employee capability by spurring them to take actions that improve health, well-being and ultimately productivity. We test these predictions using a wellness program implemented at multiple plants of an industrial laundry company. Using a three-year panel of individual productivity and medical data, we find program participation increased productivity by 5%, compared to non-participants, regardless of pre-existing health levels or post-program health changes, suggesting increased job satisfaction for participants. Moreover, many sick and healthy individuals improved their health, increasing productivity by 11%. Surveys indicate that many employees, regardless of pre-existing health levels, improved their diet and exercise from the program. Overall this study suggests that firms can increase operational productivity through socially responsible firm health policies that improve both workers' wellness and economic value.

Strategic Management Journal, Aug 29, 2019

Research summary: This article theorizes that social capital produced by social affiliations allo... more Research summary: This article theorizes that social capital produced by social affiliations allows service professionals to gain access to higher-value transactions through increased reputation for trustworthiness, which then aids them in further building reputation and engaging in entrepreneurship. Using a unique approach that pairs Utah residential real estate data with church congregation boundaries, we find that affiliations enable real estate agents to list 14% more expensive homes, and to consequently build reputation useful for future nonaffiliated transactions. We observe large reputation-building benefits for early-career agents, particularly for agents in lowreputation firms. Strikingly, we find this lowers entrepreneurship entry by 6%. These results imply that social affiliations can substitute for reputation in selection, enabling professionals to build reputation, which then has important career implications. Managerial summary: This article explores how social relationships between real estate agents and home sellers influence the value of transactions agents engage in. Sellers increasingly trust agents with whom they share a social affiliation, which allows agents to better secure high-value listings and build reputation. This benefits agent in securing future valuable transactions with nonaffiliated clients. Using residential real estate data and Real estate listing data were provided courtesy of the Wasatch Front Regional Multiple Listing Service (WFRMLS). WFRMLS has not reviewed or verified any of the numbers or statistics in this article.

Psychological Science, Jun 27, 2014

Are poor physical and financial health driven by the same underlying psychological factors? We fo... more Are poor physical and financial health driven by the same underlying psychological factors? We found that the decision to contribute to a 401(k) retirement plan predicted whether an individual acted to correct poor physical-health indicators revealed during an employer-sponsored health examination. Using this examination as a quasi-exogenous shock to employees' personal-health knowledge, we examined which employees were more likely to improve their health, controlling for differences in initial health, demographics, job type, and income. We found that existing retirement-contribution patterns and future health improvements were highly correlated. Employees who saved for the future by contributing to a 401(k) showed improvements in their abnormal blood-test results and health behaviors approximately 27% more often than noncontributors did. These findings are consistent with an underlying individual time-discounting trait that is both difficult to change and domain interdependent, and that predicts long-term individual behaviors in multiple dimensions.

Social Science Research Network, 2013

This paper uses data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laund... more This paper uses data from an attendance award program implemented at one of five industrial laundry plants to show the complex costs of corporate awards previously ignored in the literature. We show that although the attendance award had direct, positive effects on employees who had previously had punctuality problems, it also led to strategic gaming behavior centered on the specific eligibility criteria for the award. The award program temporary changed behavior in award-eligible workers, but did not habituate improved attendance. Furthermore, we show that the extrinsic reward from the award program crowded out the internal motivation of those employees who had previously demonstrated excellent attendance, generating worse punctuality during periods of ineligibility. Most novelly, we show that the attendance award program also crowded out internal motivation and performance in tasks not included in the award program. Workers with above average pre-program attendance lost 8% efficiency in daily laundry tasks after the program's introduction. We argue that these motivation spillovers result from the inequity of internally-motivated workers' previously unrewarded superior attendance contributions. Our paper suggests that even purely symbolic awards can generate gaming and crowding out costs that may spill over to other important tasks.

Management Science, 2018

This paper investigates the impact of a corporate wellness program on worker productivity using a... more This paper investigates the impact of a corporate wellness program on worker productivity using a panel of objective health and productivity data from 111 workers in five laundry plants. Although almost 90% of companies use wellness programs, existing research has focused on cost savings from insurance and absenteeism. We find productivity improvements based both on program participation and post-program health changes. Sick and healthy individuals who improved their health increased productivity by about 10%, with surveys indicating sources in improved diet and exercise. Although the small worker sample limits both estimate precision and our ability to isolate mechanisms behind this increase, we argue that our results are consistent with improved worker motivation and capability. The study suggests that firms can increase operational productivity through socially responsible health policies that improve both workers’ wellness and economic value, and provides a template for future large-scale studies of health and productivity.