We conducted a computer-based laboratory experiment
with 180 undergraduate students using z-tree software (Fischbacher,
2007). We ran 15 sessions – three sessions for the
firm profit, own compensation, and random conditions, and
six sessions for the both condition (three sessions where
the firmprofit ranking was displayed first, and three sessions
where theowncompensationrankingwasdisplayedfirst). To
ensure the privacy of participants, each subordinate was assigned
a color identifier (blue, green, orange, purple, red, or
yellow) throughout the experiment. The color identifiers
wereusedwhendisplayingsubordinate rankings.14Both subordinates
and superiors received a $5.00 one-time participation
fee and a salary of $0.50 per period ($5.00 in total).