PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Kristian Behrens AU - Matthieu Chemin TI - Non-binding Peer Review and Effort in Teams: Evidence from a Field Experiment AID - 10.3368/jhr.55.4.0717-8907R2 DP - 2019 Sep 16 TA - Journal of Human Resources PG - 0717-8907R2 4099 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2019/09/10/jhr.55.4.0717-8907R2.short 4100 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2019/09/10/jhr.55.4.0717-8907R2.full AB - Individuals tend to free-ride in teams, thus providing inefficiently low effort. We implement a system of confidential peer review in a randomly selected set of teams, whereby teammates fill an online survey to review the effort of their peers. These reviews are not linked to any rewards or sanctions, thus making them non-binding. We find that non-binding peer reviews increase effort and team productivity and do not decrease worker morale. The effects are stronger for low-ability individuals in low-ability teams where the traditional forces of peer effects may be absent.