Social interaction and effort in a success-at-work augmented utility model

This paper examines how success-at-work, interpreted by both subjective and relative criteria, can motivate individuals to enhance their effort and utility. We employ a general specification utility function and show that the final effect of technological growth on individuals’ effort and utility depends, respectively, on the assumptions we make about their nature with regard to their effort strategies (i.e. conformists, deviants or neutrals) and to their utility preferences (i.e. altruistic or envious). We show that these effects are determined largely by individuals’ personal success-consciousness at-work, as well as their competition strategies towards relative success and status.