Peer evaluations and team performance: when friends do worse than strangers

Econ Inq. 2012;50(1):171-81. doi: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2010.00354.x.

Abstract

We use peer assessments as a tool to allocate joint profits in a real-effort team experiment. We find that using this incentive mechanism reduces team performance. More specifically, we show that teams composed of acquaintances rather than strangers actually underperform in a context of peer evaluations. We conjecture that peer evaluations undermine the inherently high level of intrinsic motivation that characterizes teams composed of friends and possibly exacerbate negative reciprocity among partners. Finally, we analyze the determinants of peer assessments and stress the crucial importance of equality concerns.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Evaluation Studies as Topic*
  • History, 20th Century
  • History, 21st Century
  • Motivation*
  • Peer Group
  • Peer Review*
  • Task Performance and Analysis*