Interactions between workers and the technology of production: Evidence from professional baseball

Gould, E.D. and Winter, E. (2009) Interactions between workers and the technology of production: Evidence from professional baseball. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 91 (1). pp. 188-200. ISSN 0034-6535

Abstract

This paper shows that workers can affect the productivity of their coworkers based on income maximization considerations, rather than relying on behavioral considerations such as peer pressure, social norms, and shame. We show that a worker's effort has a positive effect on the effort of coworkers if they are complements in production, and a negative effect if they are substitutes. The theory is tested using a panel data set of baseball players from 1970 to 2003. The results are consistent with the idea that the effort choices of workers interact in ways that are dependent on the technology of production. © 2009 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.