Now that earnings announcements are upon us and earnings generally aren’t very good, it’s a good time to ask: Do those ever-ballooning executive bonuses actually help shareholders get a better return for their money? Do we really scurry after monetary rewards like mice after cheese? And if so, how does such a singular focus on money affect our performance. 

These studies by Dan Ariely and colleagues in the US and India imply a surprising conclusion. Would you believe those big pay-outs actually hurt performance? Perhaps even more interestingly, what is the implication — not just for corporate CEOs, but for professional sports players?