The Age Factor: Exploring Credit Allocation and Performance in Age-diverse Teams

Do those in leadership roles consider the age of workers when assigning credit for group efforts, particularly when individual contributions are unobservable? How does the age of a supervisor or boss, relative to the age of team members, shape individual incentives to contribute to a group effort? As collaborative work structures involving workers from different generations gain prominence in organizations, understanding fair credit allocation becomes pivotal for fostering inclusive and efficient workplaces. Evidence on how age heterogeneity in work teams impacts credit attribution and productivity is limited, emphasizing the need for this research to address a critical gap in knowledge.