It's interesting that apparently this effect you describe doesn't seem to apply just as simply as we'd expect, however convincing it sounds. At least according

It's interesting that apparently this effect you describe doesn't seem to apply just as simply as we'd expect, however convincing it sounds. At least according to the book "Drive" by Daniel Pink (2011), for any cognitively demanding work, financial incentives have a counter-productive effect. People literally become less smart by dangling the money carrot in front of them. I guess that wouldn't imply that people being just plain lazy are accepted, but I feel that's a different discussion. The book concludes with recommending that cognitively demanding work should be rewarded loosely adequately, and then get the whole topic out of sight, in favor focus on the interesting work.