Avoiding Perverse Incentives
Reading Time: 7 minutes When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Goodhart’s Law (adversarial Goodhart) Perverse incentives are compensations with unintended or undesirable consequences that encourage people to act in unethical or harmful ways. Telltale signs of perverse incentives might include: How to Fight against the Negative Consequences of Perverse Incentives? Let’s consider a practical example: a company that wants to offer bonuses to employees who meet specific sales targets. The potential downside of such rewards is that employees could engage in aggressive …