When Bonuses Backfire: Rethinking Attendance Incentives with Timo Vogelsang

In this episode we are talking to Timo Vogelsang about why incentives aimed at reducing absenteeism can sometimes have the opposite effect. Based on a Field Experiment in a German supermarket chain, he explains why offering bonuses for attendance backfired. We also explore how incentives can unintentionally shape beliefs and undermine motivation. Timo Vogelsang is Associate Professor of Managerial Accounting at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. His research focuses on behavioural economics and public policy, with a particular interest in how incentives shape motivation and behaviour in real-world settings. You can find the paper Timo talks about in the episode here .

You can listen to When Bonuses Backfire: Rethinking Attendance Incentives with Timo Vogelsang online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

When Bonuses Backfire: Rethinking Attendance Incentives with Timo Vogelsang is an episode from Game Changer - the game theory podcast by TWS Partners.

This episode is 20:44 long.

This episode was published on May 5, 2025.

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