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Decoding effort: Toward a measure – and a better understanding – of effort intensity in accounting research

Gary Hecht et al.

Management Accounting Research2025https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2025.100926article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.41

Abstract

This study introduces pupillometry – the measurement of pupil diameter changes – as a direct approach to capturing effort intensity in management accounting research. Traditional approaches using self-reports or performance-based proxies have limited researchers’ ability to study how management control systems influence behavior through effort. Using a controlled experiment with a decoding task, we examine how piece-rate versus flat-wage compensation influences effort intensity and performance. Our findings show that pupil dilation partially mediates the relationship between incentives and performance, with this mediation strongest in early experimental rounds before weakening over time. This dynamic pattern suggests that while incentives initially influence performance through effort intensity, other mechanisms such as implicit learning emerge in later rounds. Beyond demonstrating pupillometry’s validity for measuring effort intensity, we highlight its potential applications across management accounting research streams, enabling researchers to better understand how control system elements influence behavior through effort.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2025.100926

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@article{gary2025,
  title        = {{Decoding effort: Toward a measure – and a better understanding – of effort intensity in accounting research}},
  author       = {Gary Hecht et al.},
  journal      = {Management Accounting Research},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2025.100926},
}

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Evidence weight

0.41

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.25 × 0.4 = 0.10
M · momentum0.55 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.