[kiba]

There are two type of people:

Those who are self-motiviated, and those who aren't. Or rather, there's a continuum. Most people aren't that self-motivated so they mostly do nothing.

Those who are, will continue to contribute to society regardless if they got paid or not.

[JumpCrisscross]

They will choose where they contribute and will modulate the risks they take as a function of pay-off, though. These aren't things you see hitting instantly, but it affects decisions at the margin and eventually nickels add up.

[batista]

Pay-off is not only monetary, though.

A society can have totally different ways of compensating someone.