Unfair incentives: A behavioural note on sharecropping

We conducted a laboratory‐in‐the‐field experiment with real‐life tenants in Ethiopia to test the incentive effects of fixed wage, sharecropping, fixed rent, and ownership contracts. The experimental task resembles a common process in agricultural production. The sharecropping contract is a piece rate scheme framed as a profit‐sharing agreement. Sharecropping output was about 12 percent smaller than the fixed rent output. Surprisingly, it is statistically indistinguishable from the fixed wage output, despite substantial piece rates. This effect is driven by real‐life sharecroppers. Their sharecropping output was smaller than that of non‐sharecroppers, especially in a region where a controversial land reform took place. We argue that our subjects dislike sharecropping contracts because of the unfair profit sharing and the disputed allocation of land. Fairness concerns, therefore, may be another impediment to efficiency under the sharecropping contract.     

Blowing the Whistle

Leniency clauses, offering cartelists legal immunity if they blow the whistle on each other, is a recent anti-trust innovation. The authorities wish to thwart cartels and promote competition. This effect is not evident, however; whistle-blowing may enforce trust and collusion by providing a tool for cartelists to punish each other. We examine the impact of leniency law, and other rules, experimentally.     

Investitionen in neue Energietechnologien: Hemmnisfaktor Finanzierung

Probleme der Finanzierung sind für die Marktdiffusion innovativer Energietechnologien ebenso wichtig wie ihre technischen Eigenschaften oder der erwartete Nutzen aus der Technologieanwendung. Welche Rolle spielt dabei die Eigentümerstruktur des Innovators? Welchen Einfluss hat die Finanzierungsform des Investitionsvorhabens—und damit das finanzielle Risiko—auf die Attraktivit?t einer Energieinvestition?