Abstract The effect of rewards on employee’s innovative performance remains a hot topic in decades. However, the previous research reached inconsistent conclusions. This paper reviewed the argument of Romanticism and Utilitarianism in early studies, and then the recent studies on the whole mechanism of the relationship between rewards and innovative performance. It turns out that task characteristics, individual characteristics and firm system were considered as the moderators of the relationship. It is suggested that future studies should focus on chinese social and cultural context by taking chinese employees’ values into account, explore the mechanism of the effect of rewards on employee’s innovative performance, and discuss the influence of the situational factors and the employee characteristics on the relationship. Further, the characteristics of targeted employees should also be considered in the future.
2014, Vol. 11 
