What motivates agents in the social sector? Recent theoretical advances indicate that financial incentives might crowd out intrinsic motivation and reduce performance. This column describes a field experiment where hairdressers in Zambia were motivated in different ways to sell condoms. It finds that social recognition can be a more powerful performance motivator than financial gains.
Oriana Bandiera, Kelsey Jack, Nava Ashraf, 13 March 2012
Esther Duflo, 20 April 2009
In Africa, where AIDS afflicts 22 million people, most religions promote abstinence and fidelity as the best way to stop the epidemic, especially among adolescents. This column describes two randomised experiments in Kenya showing that a general risk-avoidance message does not change behaviour, whereas a clear message on the relative risks of different sexual partners does.
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