The take-away conclusion from these observations is that by and large it is not the self-signaling function of income and wealth that is the most important driver of work effort. Accumulation of economic value is a side effect attributable to a particular work reward mechanism in which the two components of reward are fused together. The conclusion leads to an interesting question: would people be willing to work also for reward lacking the economic value if the signaling component was present? Can examples of such a mechanism be found “in the wild”?