Incentive Schemes in Tanzania Industries: The Illusion of Choice

Abstract

This paper attempts at a critical analysis of the system of both material and moral incentives how applicable in Tanzania. The paper starts with a general discussion of the basic assumptions about human nature, the level of development of the forces of production and the ideological functions underlying the choice of any one or combination of the above system of incentives.This is followed by a countdown of the types of both material and moral incentives currently applicable in Tanzania, followed by a critical evaluation in which it is pointed out that neither of the two types of incentives can "tick a worker." The material incentives are either too little to meet the worker's basic needs or just impossible to operationalize. The moral ones can only work after the basic material and physiological needs have been met, which does not seem to be the case in Tanzania.The paper ends with a call for working out an incentive scheme that is tied to individual output and needs, and that moral incentives should be used sparingly and only to complement the material ones rather than acting as a substitute for them.