@techreport{96613bce62874bc59142af8bcb0c64f2,
title = "Measuring the Welfare Effects of Shame and Pride",
abstract = "Public recognition is a frequent tool for motivating desirable behavior, yet its welfare effects are rarely measured. We develop a portable money-metric approach for measuring the direct welfare effects of shame and pride, which we deploy in a series of experiments on exercise and charitable behavior. In all experiments, public recognition motivates desirable behavior but creates highly unequal emotional consequences. High-performing individuals enjoy significant utility gains from pride, while low-performing individuals incur significant utility losses from shame. We estimate structural models of social signaling, and we use the models to explore the social efficiency of public recognition policies.",
author = "Luigi Butera and Robert Metcalfe and William Morrison and Dmitry Taubinsky",
note = "Revised August 2020. Previous version published under the title: {"}The Deadweight Loss of Social Recognition{"}.",
year = "2019",
month = mar,
doi = "10.3386/w25637",
language = "English",
series = "National Bureau of Economic Research. Working Paper Series",
publisher = "National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)",
number = "25637",
address = "United States",
type = "WorkingPaper",
institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)",
}