ANNOUNCEMENT: FINE FOR COMING LATE As you all know, the official closing time of the daycare center is 1600 everyday. Since some parents have been coming late, we (with the approval of the Authority for Private Day-Care Centers in Israel) have decided to impose a fine on parents who come late to pickup their children. As of next Sunday a fine of NS 10 c will be charged every time a child is collected after 1610. This fine will be calculated monthly, it is to be paid together with the regular monthly payment. Sincerely, The manager of the daycare center The theory underlying the fine, said Gneezy and Rustichini, was straightforward When negative consequences are imposed on a behavior, they will produce a reduction of that particular response In other words, thwack the parents with a fine, and they’ll stop showing up late. But that’s not what happened. After the introduction of the fine we observed a steady increase in the number of parents coming late the economists wrote. The rate finally settled, at a level that was higher, and almost twice as large as the initial one.” 19 And in language reminiscent of Harry Harlow’s head scratching, they write that the existing literature didn’t account for such a result. Indeed, the possibility of an increase in the behavior being punished was not even considered.” Up pops another bug in Motivation 2.0. One reason most parents showed upon time is that they had a relationship with the teachers—who, after all, were caring for their precious sons and daughters—and wanted to treat them fairly. Parents had an intrinsic desire to be scrupulous about punctuality. But the threat of a fine—like the promise of the kronor in the blood experiment—edged aside that third drive. The fine shifted the parents decision from a partly moral obligation (be fair to my kids teachers) to a pure transaction (I can buy extra time. There wasn’t room for both. The punishment didn’t promote good behavior it crowded it out.
