A Battle Between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivators

Under some conditions, the use of the price system undermines intrinsic motivation, i.e., crowding-out effect (Margit and Frey 2000). For the purpose of economics analysis, the so-called hidden cost of reward can be summarized in two respects  

All interventions outside the individual himself, i.e., both positive rewards and 

External interventions may crowd in/out intrinsic motivation (Frey and Jegen 

Besides, where the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can clearly be separated under symmetric information, agent and principle under asymmetric information cannot. When the agent is not sure about the principle s ability, intrinsic motivation drops with the level of the bonus. A reward can be a good positive reinforcement in short term only, but it usually decreases in the future (Benabou and Tirole 2003). 

The revolution of Web 2.0 in the internet introduces a new channel for construction safety researchers to share their knowledge. It also brings in the question of motivation and resistance in doing so. Openness and transparency are important factors in the success of Web 2.0 construction safety knowledge sharing (Eysen-bach 2008). Besides, web site owners have to understand the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation of safety researchers, e.g. their perceived payoff of knowledge sharing. 

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