基于自主选择偏好下的激励机制研究

Abstract

In knowledge-driven and talent-intensive organizational contexts, equity-based incentive mechanisms have become a critical strategic tool for attracting and retaining key human capital, as well as fostering long-term employment relationships. Despite their widespread application in practice, the micro-level behavioral mechanisms underlying employee decisions under equity incentive schemes - particularly in contexts where employees possess genuine freedom of choice - remain underexplored. Existing research has largely focused on the macro-level impact of equity incentives on firm performance, with relatively limited attention to the individual decision-making processes and behavioral consequences involved in equity participation.
This study constructs a theoretical framework based on the logic of Double Signaling Theory, systematically investigating the behavioral mechanisms and organizational outcomes embedded in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). The framework posits that in contexts where employees are granted the freedom to choose, both employees and business unit (BU) leaders act as simultaneous signal senders: employees signal their confidence in the firm’s future and their organizational commitment through their decision to participate in equity conversion, while BU leaders send behavioral signals regarding fairness and leadership orientation through their allocation of the departmental bonus pool. Within this structure, external signals (e.g., bonus size, equity proportion) and internal signals (e.g., psychological empowerment, knowledge sharing climate, perceived voice) jointly shape the employee's cognitive basis for incentive responses.
Drawing on detailed data from Touchstone Medical between 2015 and 2020, this study employs Tobit regression, Heckman selection models, and fixed-effects panel regression to examine the drivers of equity incentive participation and its consequences for salary growth and turnover. Empirical results show that prior bonus levels, bonus-to-salary ratios, historical equity conversion experience, and tenure significantly increase the likelihood of opting into equity incentives, supporting theoretical expectations grounded in resource accumulation and path dependence. Age, by contrast, negatively predicts equity participation, consistent with lifecycle-based risk preference models. Furthermore, equity conversion ratios significantly and positively predict future salary growth, and negatively predict turnover probability, validating the dual role of equity incentives in performance returns and retention constraints.
Mechanism analyses reveal a significant positive relationship between equity participation and employees’ sense of psychological ownership, suggesting that financial alignment with the firm’s future fosters stronger identification with organizational goals. However, when incorporating workplace behavior variables into the full model, the predictive power of equity participation is attenuated. Instead, psychological empowerment, knowledge sharing, and perceived voice emerge as more powerful predictors of ownership sentiment, implying that long-term commitment is more deeply rooted in daily organizational experiences - such as whether employees feel trusted, empowered, and heard - than in formal economic arrangements.
The study also uncovers the behavioral signaling role of supervisors in shaping employee responses. Longitudinal analysis reveals a clear positive correlation between supervisory self-allocation and employee turnover. This finding confirms a cumulative erosion mechanism, where managerial self-interest behavior gradually undermines organizational trust and psychological safety, ultimately driving employees away. It validates a multi-stage transmission path linking institutional signals, behavioral perception, and organizational response.
Overall, this research contributes to both theory and practice by empirically validating the multifaceted effectiveness of equity-based incentives in shaping employee motivation preferences, salary progression, organizational commitment, and turnover behavior. The findings suggest that incentive efficacy depends not only on the technical structure of the scheme but also on the transparency, fairness, and behavioral consistency of its execution. By integrating Double Signaling Theory, the study develops a dynamic framework that explains how incentive systems operate not just as economic instruments but as communicative mechanisms, transforming formal institutional design into psychological recognition and behavioral alignment.
This study offers practical implications for firms seeking to optimize long-term incentive structures, strengthen organizational trust, and cultivate a “psychological ownership culture” among core employees. It also opens new theoretical avenues for incentive research by emphasizing the behavioral signaling role of supervisors, the mediating role of workplace climate, and the cumulative dynamics of incentive interpretation. Future research could expand upon this model using longitudinal data, explore cross-cultural variation in signal perception, and examine how the transition from a resource-based to a knowledge-based view of incentives can help mitigate persistent challenges of informational asymmetry and motivational misalignment in contemporary organizations.

Date of Award	28 May 2025
Original language	Chinese (Simplified)
Awarding Institution	China Europe International Business School
Supervisor	Yuhchang Hwang (Supervisor) & David Hendrik Erkens (Supervisor)