@misc{HoffmannThommes, author = {Hoffmann, Christin and Thommes, Kirsten}, title = {Combining Egalitarian and Proportional Sharing rules in Team Tournaments to Incentivize Energy-Efficient Behavior in a Principal-Agent Context}, series = {Organization \& Environment}, volume = {35 (2022)}, journal = {Organization \& Environment}, number = {2}, issn = {1552-7417}, doi = {10.1177/1086026620945343}, pages = {307 -- 331}, abstract = {Triggering the energy-efficient behavior of agents in firms simultaneously decreases costs and mitigates CO2 emissions. If firms use team tournaments to increase energy-efficient behavior and thus employee performance, they may face unintended consequences, like a bifurcation effect: Individuals drop out if they believe that they cannot win the contest. By contrast, high-performing employees may overexert themselves. Additionally, some individuals might be tempted to free-ride. In a field experiment with truck drivers, we analyze whether proportional sharing of the bonus within teams based on individual effort instead of egalitarian sharing reduces both bifurcation and free-riding during team tournaments. Our results reveal that (1) the team contest improves performance; (2) this increase in performance is overall slightly stronger under the proportional than under the egalitarian sharing rule, using ceteris paribus comparisons; and (3) the performance increase is mainly driven by the team member performing worse.}, language = {en} } @misc{HoffmannThommes, author = {Hoffmann, Christin and Thommes, Kirsten}, title = {Can digital feedback increase employee performance and energy efficiency in firms? Evidence from a field experiment}, series = {Journal of Economic Behavior \& Organization}, volume = {180}, journal = {Journal of Economic Behavior \& Organization}, issn = {0167-2681}, doi = {10.1016/j.jebo.2020.09.034}, pages = {49 -- 65}, abstract = {Giving performance feedback to increase employee productivity has shown ambiguous results: Many laboratory studies have demonstrated a statistically significant effect of feedback on performance, but the effect is less evident in the field. In addition, the effects of digital feedback are not well understood. This feedback differs from other types of feedback as it is personalized, but not generated and provided by another human, e.g., the supervisor, but by a machine. We conducted a field experiment in which we introduced digital feedback to improve truck drivers' performance by enhancing their energy-efficient driving behavior. Our results show that digital feedback led to a statistically significant but small overall improvement in energy efficiency and performance that is driven by the improvement of initially very good- and very bad-performing drivers. This effect is robust, even when considering the differences in the room for improvement relative to the initial performance.}, language = {en} } @misc{HoffmannHoppeZiemann, author = {Hoffmann, Christin and Hoppe, Julia Amelie and Ziemann, Niklas}, title = {Faster, Harder, Greener? Empirical Evidence on the Role of the Individual Pace of Life for Productivity and Pro-Environmental Behavior}, series = {Ecological Economics}, volume = {191 (2022)}, journal = {Ecological Economics}, issn = {0921-8009}, doi = {10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107212}, language = {en} } @techreport{HoffmannHoppeZiemann, author = {Hoffmann, Christin and Hoppe, Julia Amelie and Ziemann, Niklas}, title = {The Hare and the Hedgehog: Empirical evidence on the relationship between the individual Pace of Life and the speed-accuracy continuum}, publisher = {PLOS ONE}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0256490}, pages = {15}, abstract = {Against the background of the speed-accuracy trade-off, we explored whether the Pace of Life can be used to identify heterogeneity in the strategy to place more weight on either fast or accurate accomplishments. The Pace of Life approaches an individual's exposure to time and is an intensively studied concept in the evolutionary biology research. Albeit overall rarely, it is increasingly used to understand human behavior and may fulfill many criteria of a personal trait. In a controlled laboratory environment, we measured the participants' Pace of Life, as well as their performance on a real-effort task. In the real-effort task, the participants had to encode words, whereby each word encoded correctly was associated with a monetary reward. We found that individuals with a faster Pace of Life accomplished more tasks in total. At the same time, they were less accurate and made more mistakes (in absolute terms) than those with a slower Pace of Life. Thus, the Pace of Life seems to be useful to identify an individual's stance on the speed-accuracy continuum. In our specific task, placing more weight on speed instead of accuracy paid off: Individuals with a faster Pace of Life were ultimately more successful (with regard to their monetary revenue).}, language = {en} } @misc{HoffmannThommes, author = {Hoffmann, Christin and Thommes, Kirsten}, title = {Seizing the Opportunity for Automation—How Traffic Density Determines Truck Drivers' Use of Cruise Control}, series = {IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems}, volume = {52}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems}, number = {6}, issn = {2168-2291}, doi = {10.1109/THMS.2022.3212335}, pages = {1205 -- 1215}, language = {en} } @misc{AlkhasliHoffmann, author = {Alkhasli, Isabel and Hoffmann, Christin}, title = {Neural and social-psychological correlates of immersion in a virtual reality safety training.}, series = {Proceedings of the third Neuroadaptive Technologie Conference 2022}, journal = {Proceedings of the third Neuroadaptive Technologie Conference 2022}, pages = {115 -- 117}, language = {en} } @misc{HoffmannThommes, author = {Hoffmann, Christin and Thommes, Kirsten}, title = {Can leaders motivate employees' energy-efficient behavior with thoughtful communication?}, series = {Journal of Environmental Economics and Management}, volume = {125}, journal = {Journal of Environmental Economics and Management}, pages = {24}, abstract = {We study the effect of an employer's communication concerning energy-efficient behavior on a firm's employees' behavioral responses. The management aims to enhance energy-efficient behavior performance by irregularly sending online messages to remote employees. We break down each message, analyzing the positive or negative emotions conveyed, collective or individual orientation, and ease of language. Comparing employees' daily energy efficiency after receiving a message to their daily performance without a previous message, we find that messages generally result in an immediate increase in efficiency. Messages conveying negative emotions and those making a distinction between the manager and the employees have a smaller effect than messages conveying positive emotions and emphasizing a collective orientation that includes both the management and employees. Additionally, shorter messages are more likely to induce improved efficiency. Sending messages significantly impacts driver performance for up to six days after the message, resulting in economically relevant cost reductions.}, language = {en} } @misc{MuhammadHoffmann, author = {Muhammad, Sulaman and Hoffmann, Christin}, title = {From investment to impact: The role of green finance and technological innovation on German energy transition}, series = {Renewable Energy}, volume = {237 Part B}, journal = {Renewable Energy}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.renene.2024.121665}, pages = {1 -- 12}, abstract = {Germany is a global leader in environmental protection and has embraced a fast-track transition towards renewable energy adaptation. To support the continuous energy transition, an approximate sum of EUR 3000 billion needs to be mobilized by 2050, making it an exemplary case for examining the influence of green finance on renewable energy consumption and technological innovation. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of green finance and technological innovation on renewable energy consumption across 16 federal German states, utilizing panel data from 2008 to 2021. Two novel financial proxies, green investment and environmental protection-related sales, are introduced to capture the financial mechanisms underpinning the energy transition. MMQ (method of moments quantile) regression is employed to explore the short and long-run relationship among variables. The results reveal that while environmental protection-related sales consistently increase renewable energy consumption, the positive effects of green investment manifest only in the long term. Furthermore, the results indicate that solely increasing R\&D funds does not necessarily boost renewable energy consumption. However, the positive interplay between R\&D and patent applications significantly increases electricity generation from renewable sources. Indicating that integrated financial and technological strategies are essential for advancing Germany's renewable energy goals.}, language = {en} } @misc{Hoffmann, author = {Hoffmann, Christin}, title = {Inter- and intragenerational differences in corrupt behavior: The development of morals after German reunification}, series = {European Journal of Comparative Economics}, volume = {21 (2024)}, journal = {European Journal of Comparative Economics}, issn = {1824-2979}, doi = {10.25428/1824-2979/032}, pages = {211 -- 264}, abstract = {We investigate differences in bribing decisions among two generations from East and West Germany in a bribery game conducted as an online study (N=168). This way, we aim to explore moral considerations of individuals influenced by two formerly different institutional systems. We find a higher propensity to bribe among young Germans compared to the older generation. Young East Germans even reveal a slightly greater inclination to bribe than their West German counterparts. We conclude that preferences for personal favors may be induced among young East Germans given the tense relationship between market opportunities and conveyed cultural traits of a socialist imprint.}, language = {en} } @misc{HoffmannThommes, author = {Hoffmann, Christin and Thommes, Kirsten}, title = {Can leaders motivate employees' energy-efficient behavior with thoughtful communication?}, series = {Journal of Environmental Economics and Management}, volume = {125}, journal = {Journal of Environmental Economics and Management}, issn = {0095-0696}, doi = {10.1016/j.jeem.2024.102990}, pages = {1 -- 24}, abstract = {We study the effect of an employer's communication concerning energy-efficient behavior on a firm's employees' behavioral responses. The management aims to enhance energy-efficient behavior performance by irregularly sending online messages to remote employees. We break down each message, analyzing the positive or negative emotions conveyed, collective or individual orientation, and ease of language. Comparing employees' daily energy efficiency after receiving a message to their daily performance without a previous message, we find that messages generally result in an immediate increase in efficiency. Messages conveying negative emotions and those making a distinction between the manager and the employees have a smaller effect than messages conveying positive emotions and emphasizing a collective orientation that includes both the management and employees. Additionally, shorter messages are more likely to induce improved efficiency. Sending messages significantly impacts driver performance for up to six days after the message, resulting in economically relevant cost reductions.}, language = {en} }