Academic

Do Placement Incentives Modify Behavior?

By Tim Zinnecker

We held our last faculty meeting of the semester this week.  One agenda item that generated robust  debate was the idea of offering a ?bounty? for scholarship placement.  For example, an article placed in a ?top ten? journal might trigger a $5,000 cash bonus, an article placed in a ?top twenty? journal might trigger a $3,000 cash bonus, etc.  Assuming that such a policy is a good idea (and, for the record, I?m opposed to any such proposal), the devil is in the details.  (If your school has  such a policy, please send along a copy to me and I?ll route it to our committee chairperson.)

One colleague challenged the notion that any such policy would modify our behavior in any way, assuming that we already are driven to seek the best placements possible.  That statement made sense to me at the time of the meeting, but I?ve given additional thought to the proposition.  And I?ve come up with a few situations where a cash incentive might affect behavior.

1.  Professor Jones doesn?t ask for expedited reviews or play the ?trade up? game.  Perhaps a cash bonus might prompt Professor Jones to rethink his placement strategy.

2.  Professor Jones doesn?t ask friends at top-tier schools to ?walk? her paper down to the student editors.  Perhaps Professor Jones might start making those awkward phone calls for a chance at $1,000 ... $3,000 ... $5,000.

3.  Professor Jones has an article ready to submit to journals.  The article is not time-sensitive.  Professor Jones is visiting at a ?better? school next semester.  Thinking that ?better? letterhead might trigger ?better? placement (and increase the likelihood of a cash bonus), might Professor Jones defer submission for a few months?

4.  Professor Jones receives an invitation to contribute an article to a symposium issue to be published by a "top fifty" journal.  Might Professor Jones decline the invitation, given that this placement won't trigger any cash bonus?

5.  Professor Jones accepts an offer from a ?top fifty? journal.  Three days later, she receives an offer from a ?top twenty? journal.  Professor Jones gets no cash bonus for a ?top fifty? placement, but she?ll receive a very nice ?reward? for a ?top twenty? placement.  Might Professor Jones reconsider her initial acceptance?

Perhaps readers might offer other situations where ?placement incentives? could affect behavior.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on April 24, 2009 (boomark / email).