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The researchers who produced this paper evaluate health outcomes for workers subject to incentivized compensation in an effort to better understand the effects and implications of modern day performance and piece rate pay in the growing gig economy sector. This paper is the first to explore the effects of pay type on worker health outcomes in a large and representative longitudinal and cross-sector panel of the U.S. workforce. The results suggest that worker health suffers as a result of performance and piece rate pay compared to salaried work, especially for vulnerable sub-groups of the U.S. workforce. In fact, the results show little to no impact of performance and piece rate pay for the non-susceptible segments of the working population, with the entirety of the effect born by the vulnerable workforce of low-income, female, and non-white workers. Further research is needed to identify the reason behind the differential effects, and to explore the negative health implications as they relate directly to the growing gig economy and contract workforce in the U.S.

Citation

Davis, M. E. (2020). Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University. The Effect of Performance Pay on U.S. Worker’s Physical and Emotional Health: Evidence and Implications for Gig Work. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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This study was part of CEO’s Labor Research and Evaluation Grants, and was produced outside of CEO’s standard research development process.