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arXiv · 2511.05338

Task assignment as dynamic incentives

Yonghang Ji·Allen Vong
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Abstract

We study repeated task assignment as an instrument for providing effort incentives. Unlike traditional incentive instruments, assignment of a task both determines who produces and provides incentives, and incentives for one worker spill over to others because assignment is exclusive. We show that optimal incentives require a strict and evolving priority ranking through which workers are assigned the task. This ranking implies that workers' average workloads differ even when they are symmetric in all payoff-relevant respects. We characterize how workforce size, monitoring, and working conditions shape the scope of optimal incentive provision and the resulting inequality among workers.

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Yonghang Ji, Allen Vong. 2025-11-07. Task assignment as dynamic incentives. https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05338

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