preview

The Concept Of Incentives And The Way Of Which Humans Respond From The Standard Economic Model

Better Essays

Sandel next adresses the concept of incentives and the way in which humans respond to them. Individuals act in order to maximize their own welfare and therefore respond things that allow them to do so; these things are known as incentives. Sandel provides us with the example of students who where offered financial incentive to do better in school. However the reaction to the incentives differed from the standard economic model. While paying students who passed AP exams did increase over all success, the results indicated that the amount of money payed made no difference in the amount of achievement. While the did serve its purpose as an incentive, the money did not act as a bribe but rather as an agent that changed the stigma associated with AP testing making it “cool” for students to do. While there do exist benefits to offering incentives, there also exists ramification known as perverse incentives. The notion of perverse incentives deals with the idea that by placing a market price on a certain act, the meaning of the act itself may become blurred. Sandel offers the example of fine Vs. fees where parents would come late to pick up their children from day care and treat the fine for coming late as a fee for extended service. By placing a market value on the extended time care takers had to work, parents no longer felt guilty about leaving their child later till later hours and therefore eroding the original purpose of the fine. At this point Sandel moves to the

Get Access