Portrait image for Jana Gallus

Jana Gallus

Associate Professor of Strategy and Behavioral Decision Making
“People respond to incentives — financial, such as bonuses, and nonfinancial, such as public recognition. I am intrigued by how we can design incentive systems that leverage people’s nonfinancial motivations, and evaluate their impact on organizational performance in the field.”
(310)206-6903, Office D-508
Areas of Expertise:
  • Behavioral Economics
  • Experimental Economics
  • Incentives
  • Microeconomics
  • Motivation
  • Online Community Management
  • Personnel Economics
  • Strategy
About
 

Biography

Jana Gallus is an associate professor in the strategy group at UCLA Anderson. Her research interests lie in behavioral economics, strategy, and innovation, with a focus on recognition incentives and their effects on decision-making. She investigates how incentive schemes can be designed to enhance employee motivation and organizational performance in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors.

Gallus’ work has been published in Management ScienceStrategic Management JournalApplied Economics, Labour Economics, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, among other journals. Her research is informed by consulting activities for organizations on the design of incentives and recognition schemes.

Gallus joined UCLA from Harvard, where she was a postdoctoral fellow. She received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Zurich, with the distinction summa cum laude, and holds two master’s degrees, from Sciences Po Paris in France and the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

Education

Ph. D. Economics, summa cum laude, 2015, University of Zurich

Double Master: Finance and Strategy, International Affairs and Governance, 2009–2011, University of St. Gallen and Sciences Po Paris

Bachelor and Master, 2006–2011, Sciences Po Paris

 

Selected Publications 

Gender, authority and emotion in the collaborative production of knowledge on Wikipedia (J. Gallus, S. Bhatia). Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2020 forthcoming.

Awards and the gender gap in knowledge contributions in STEM (J. Gallus, E. Heikensten). American Economic Association Papers and Proceedings, 2020, 110: 241–244.

The demotivating effect (and unintended message) of awards (C.D. Robinson, J. Gallus, M.G. Lee, T. Rogers). Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2019 in press.

Fostering public good contributions with symbolic awards: A large-scale natural field experiment at Wikipedia (J. Gallus). Management Science, 2017, 63(12): 3999–4015.

Towards an economics of awards (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). Journal of Economic Surveys, 2017, 31(1): 190-200.

Awards as strategic signals (J. Gallus, B.S. Frey). Journal of Management Inquiry, 2017, 26(1): 76–85.

Awards: A strategic management perspective (J. Gallus, B.S. Frey). Strategic Management Journal, 2016, 37(8): 1699–1714.

Honors: A rational choice analysis of award bestowals (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). Rationality and Society, 2016, 28(3): 255–269.

External influence as an indicator of scholarly importance (H.F. Chan, B.S. Frey, J. Gallus, M. Schaffner, B. Torgler, S. Whyte). CESifo Economic Studies, 2016, 62(1): 170–195.

Awards as non-monetary incentives (J. Gallus, B.S. Frey). Evidence-based HRM, 2016, 4(1): 81–91.

Academic honors and performance (H.F. Chan, B.S. Frey, J. Gallus, B. Torgler). Labour Economics, 2014, 31: 188–204.

Do the best scholars attract the highest speaking fees? An exploration of internal and external influence (H.F. Chan, B.S. Frey, J. Gallus, M. Schaffner, B. Torgler, S. Whyte). Scientometrics, 2014, 101: 793–817.

Open issues in happiness research (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus, L. Steiner). International Review of Economics, 2014, 61(2): 115–125.

Aggregate effects of behavioral anomalies: A new research area (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, 2014, 8(18): 1–15 .

Political economy of happiness (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). Applied Economics, 2013, 45(30): 4205–4211.

Subjective well-being and policy (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). Topoi –International Review of Philosophy, 2013, 32(2): 207–212.

Happiness policy and economic development (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). International Journal of Happiness and Development, 2012, 1(1): 102–111.

Fostering voluntary contributions to a public good: A large-scale natural field experiment at Wikipedia. Management Science, forthcoming. Abridged version  forthcoming in : Humphreys (Ed.), Proceedings of the Seventy-sixth Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. Online ISSN: 2151-6561.

Awards: A strategic management perspective (with Bruno S. Frey). Strategic Management Journal, 2016, 37(8): 1699-1714.

Towards an economics of awards (with Bruno S. Frey). Journal of Economic Surveys, forthcoming. DOI: 10.1111/joes.12127.

Giving awards: A rational choice analysis (with Bruno S. Frey). Rationality and Society, forthcoming. DOI: 10.1177/1043463116634656.

Awards as strategic signals (with Bruno S. Frey). Journal of Management Inquiry, forthcoming.

Awards as non-monetary incentives (with Bruno S. Frey). Evidence-based HRM, 2016, 4(1): 81-91.

External influence as an indicator of scholarly importance (with Ho Fai Chan, Bruno S. Frey, Markus Schaffner, Benno Torgler, and Stephen Whyte). CESifo Economic Studies, 2015, doi: 10.1093/cesifo/ifv010.

Academic honors and performance (with Ho Fai Chan, Bruno S. Frey, and Benno Torgler). Labour Economics, 2014, 31: 188–204.

Do the best scholars attract the highest speaking fees? An exploration of internal and external influence (with Ho Fai Chan, Bruno S. Frey, Markus Schaffner, Benno Torgler, and Stephen Whyte). Scientometrics, 2014, 101: 793–817.

The power of awards (with Bruno S. Frey). The Economists’ Voice, 2014, 11(1): 1–5.

Open issues in happiness research (with Bruno S. Frey and Lasse Steiner). International Review of Economics, 2014, 61(2): 115–125.

Aggregate effects of behavioral anomalies: A new research area (with Bruno S. Frey). Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal, 2014, 8(2014-18): 1–15 .

Happiness: Research and policy considerations (with Bruno S. Frey). In: Happiness, edited by Tachibanaki Toshiaki, Welfare Plus Alpha.

Political economy of happiness (with Bruno S. Frey). Applied Economics, 2013,45(30): 4205–4211.

Subjective well-being and policy (with Bruno S. Frey). Topoi –International Review of Philosophy, 2013,32(2): 207–212.

Happiness policy and economic development (with Bruno S. Frey). International Journal of Happiness and Development, 2012,1(1): 102–111.

Book Publications 

Honours versus Money: The Economics of Awards (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Motivation and awards (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). In: Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Economic Behaviour, Alan Lewis (Ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Volunteer organizations: Motivating with awards (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). In: Economic Psychology, Rob Ranyard (Ed.). Malden, US: Wiley/Blackwell, 2018.

Happiness: Research and policy considerations (B.S. Frey, J. Gallus). In: Happiness, Tachibanaki Toshiaki (Ed.). Welfare Plus Alpha, 2016.

General Interest

Awards, honours, and ribbons: Between fame and shame (with Bruno S. Frey). March 2015, VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal.

Reply to Peter E. Earl’s article “Anchoring in economics: On Frey and Gallus on the aggregation of behavioural anomalies” (with Bruno S. Frey). October 2014, Economics: The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal.

Motivation – ausgezeichnet (with Bruno S. Frey). September 2014, VR Praxis, UnternehmerZeitung.

Auszeichnungen – Würde oder Bürde? Eine Frage der Motivation (with Bruno S. Frey). June 2014, Basler Zeitung.

Ein schöner Orden und eine würdige Feier (with Bruno S. Frey). November 2013, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

Die Freude am Geld schwindet (with Bruno S. Frey). November 2013, Weltwoche.

Interne und externe Bedeutung von Ökonomen (with Bruno S. Frey, Markus Schaffner, and Benno Torgler). September 2013, Ökonomenstimme.

Extrinsische Anreize – Die Macht der Auszeichnung (with Bruno S. Frey). June 2013, Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

Award the Deserving (with Bruno S. Frey). May 2013, New York Times, Room for Debate.

Auszeichnungen steigern die wissenschaftliche Leistung (with Chan, Ho Fai, Bruno Frey, Jana Gallus and Benno Torgler). March 2013, Ökonomenstimme.

Auszeichnungen als Anreiz (with Bruno S. Frey). August 2012, Ökonomenstimme.

Beautiful people earn more... and are moreover happier (with Bruno S. Frey). March 2012, VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal.

La religiosité rend heureux, mais les églises se vident (with Bruno S. Frey). November 2011, Telos.

Religion makes people happy, so why is church attendance declining? (with Bruno S. Frey). October 2011, VOX, CEPR’s Policy Portal.

 

Press (selection)

Hidden Brain, a podcast by NPR, 2019.

“Why employee rewards are frequently ineffective and potentially counterproductive.” Quartz, Sep 11, 2019.

“Barnstar-like awards increase new editor retention.” Wikimedia Research Newsletter 9, Mar 2019.

“Making work meaningful: A leader’s guide.” McKinsey Quarterly, Oct 2018.

“Science confirms it: People are not pets.” The New York Times, Oct 27, 2018.

“'Rewards don't improve school attendance'.” BBC News. Aug 29, 2018.

"Jana Gallus ist unsere vielversprechendste Ökonomin. Als Dank ein Edelweiß: Die Wirtschaftswissenschaftlerin Jana Gallus erforscht, wieso Geld allein die Menschen nur schlecht motiviert." DIE ZEIT, No. 51, Swiss edition. Dec 8, 2016.

Interview about non-financial awards and happiness, Economic Rockstar podcast. Sep 29, 2016.

“What makes Wikipedia's volunteer editors volunteer?” Scientific American. May 12, 2016.

“Handicapping the John Bates Clark Medal.” The Wall Street Journal. Apr 10, 2013.

“The Clark Medal’s Midas Touch.” The Wall Street Journal. Apr 11, 2013.

 

Video

“Awards: A strategic management perspective,” Strategic Management Journal

Jana Gallus discusses her paper, co-authored with Bruno Frey, on how rewards affect motivation and performance. The paper is here: 
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.2415/abstract

SMJ Video Abstract - Jana Gallus & Bruno Frey on corporate awards

Keynote - Motivations and Incentives: An Evidence-Based Approach to Community Management