Working Paper: NBER ID: w25620
Authors: Greer K. Gosnell; John A. List; Robert D. Metcalfe
Abstract: Increasing evidence indicates the importance of management in determining firms’ productivity. Yet, causal evidence regarding the effectiveness of management practices is scarce, especially for high-skilled workers in the developed world. In an eight-month field experiment measuring the productivity of captains in the commercial aviation sector, we test four distinct management practices: (i) performance monitoring; (ii) performance feedback; (iii) target setting; and (iv) pro-social incentives. We find that these management practices—particularly performance monitoring and target setting—significantly increase captains’ productivity with respect to the targeted fuel-saving dimensions. We identify positive spillovers of the tested management practices on job satisfaction and carbon dioxide emissions, and captains overwhelmingly express desire for deeper managerial engagement. Both the implementation and the results of the study reveal an uncharted opportunity for management researchers to delve into the black box of firms and rigorously examine the determinants of productivity amongst skilled labor.
Keywords: Management Practices; Employee Productivity; Field Experiment; Airline Captains
JEL Codes: C93; D01; J3; Q5; R4
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Personalized performance targets (D29) | Productivity metrics (D20) |
| Performance monitoring (L25) | Productivity of airline captains (L93) |
| Performance monitoring (L25) | Fuel load (L94) |
| Performance monitoring (L25) | Efficient taxi behaviors (R41) |
| Prosocial incentives (D64) | Productivity metrics (D20) |
| Performance monitoring (L25) | Sustained productivity gains (O49) |