Carrot and stick

Carrot and stick (also "carrot or stick") is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behavior. It is named in reference to a cart driver dangling a carrot in front of a mule and holding a stick behind it. The donkey would move towards the carrot because it wants the reward of food, while also moving away from the stick behind it, since it does not want the punishment of pain, thus drawing the cart.

Some claim that this usage of phrase is erroneous, and that it in fact comes from the figure of a carrot on a stick. In this case, the driver would tie a carrot on a string to a long stick and dangle it in front of the donkey, just out of its reach. As the donkey moved forward to get the carrot, it pulled the cart and the driver so that the carrot would always remain out of reach.

The earliest citation of this expression recorded by the Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary is to The Economist magazine in the December 11, 1948, issue.

Illustration

See also

• Centrifugal governor
• Feedback loop
• Manipulation
• Norm of reciprocity
• Crook and flail
• Reciprocity of twist and wrench
• Stick licensing
• Two-way communication

External links

• Paul Brians, Department of English, Washington State University “Carrot on a stick” vs. “the carrot or the stick.”
• EconPapers abstract for an experiment using this model "The Carrot or the Stick: Rewards, Punishments, and Cooperation"
• The Carrot and the Stick discussed in US Drug Policy, "The Carrot & The Stick"