Subjectivity in Performance Evaluation and Group Identity as Antecedents of Employee Overwork

Employees often overwork by working longer than contractual or statutory standard working time for no immediate additional monetary gain. Despite its prevalence, little is understood about the management controls that cause employee overwork. I use an experiment to investigate how two key features of a firm’s management control system—the subjectivity in performance evaluation and the strength of employees’ identity with their colleagues—affect employees’ level of overwork. I find that the effect of subjectivity in performance evaluation on the level of overwork is increasing in group identity strength. I also employ another experiment and provide evidence that subjectivity impacts the level of overwork primarily through the effort heuristic mechanism. My study is important because understanding factors within firms that propagate overwork is consequential for firms that see negative implications of overwork. Understanding these factors also allows firms to have a more complete understanding of what motivates their employees. 

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