We introduce the “ball-catching task”, a novel computerized task, which combines a tangible action (“catching balls”) with induced material cost of effort. The central feature of the ball-catching task is that it allows researchers to manipulate the cost of effort function as well as the production function, which permits quantitative predictions on effort provision. In an experiment with piece-rate incentives we find that the comparative static and the point predictions on effort provision are remarkably accurate. We also present experimental findings from three classic experiments, namely, team production, gift exchange and tournament, using the task. All of the results are closely in line with the stylized facts from experiments using purely induced values. We conclude that the ball-catching task combines the advantages of real effort tasks with the use of induced values, which is useful for theory-testing purposes as well as for applications.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10683-015-9465-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Employees typically work on multiple tasks that require unrelated skills and abilities. While past research strongly supports that relative performance feedback influences employee performance and effort allocation, little is known about the effect of relative performance feedback on employee competitiveness. Using a lab experiment, we study and confirm a complementary feedback spillover effect—relative performance feedback in the first task positively affects competitiveness in the unrelated second task. Furthermore, we find that the effect operates jointly and independently through belief- and taste-altering mechanisms. The results have important implications for organizations to understand both the power and the limitations of using relative performance feedback as an intervention policy in the design of accounting, control, and reporting systems.
JEL Classifications: C72; C91.
Data Availability: Go to: https://doi.org/10.17029/654cbcca-6e02-4bb2-aff6-41607a2a23d5
Previous studies have demonstrated that CC motif chemokine 14 (CCL14) plays an important role in the occurrence and development of cancer. However, the significance of CCL14 in the progression and prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has not yet been reported. The standard EnVision procedure for tissue microarrays was used to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of CCL14 protein in 154 patients with EOC who underwent tumor-debulking operations at the Central Cancer Department of Sun Yat-Sen University (Guangzhou, China) or Jiangmen Central Hospital (Jiangmen, China). The association between CCL14 expression and clinicopathological variables was assessed using the χ 2 test. For survival status of patients with EOC, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and a Cox multivariate regression model was used. Expression of CCL14 protein was significantly associated with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetric stage (P=0.014) and pN status(P=0.005). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the survival time of patients with high expression of CCL14 was 136.1 months and that of patients with low expression of CCL14 was 98.9 months (P=0.026). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that CCL14 upregulation was associated with overall survival time (HR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.261-0.896; P=0.021) and progression-free survival time (HR,0.437; 95% CI, 0.228-0.839; P=0.013). In conclusion, CCL14 is an independent prognostic factor for EOC and upregulation of CCL14 is associated with a more favorable prognosis in patients with EOC.
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