In supplementary analysis, we find that for employees with a reasonable expectancy of goal
attainment (i.e., excluding the bottom 5 percent of June performers) cash rewards had significant
direct effects on performance. Also, cash rewards were positively associated with the change in
performance over the previous month, with this effect fully mediated by the impact of reward type
on goal selection. Our only evidence consistent with tangible rewards being associated with better
performance than cash is a higher rate of goal attainment among employees who selected the
moderate goal.