carrot and stick

Idioms  

1. Reward and punishment used as persuasive measures, as in Management dangled the carrot of a possible raise before strikers, but at the same time waved the stick of losing their pension benefits. This term alludes to enticing a horse or donkey to move by dangling a carrot before it and, either alternately or at the same time, urging it forward by beating it with a stick. [Late 1800s]

---

Example Sentences

These policies use a carrot and stick, encouraging platforms to avoid regulation by reaching deals on their own, as they have done already with a few large publishers.

From Seattle Times

We encourage funding agencies to go further, adding multiple carrot and stick motivators to encourage universities and scientists to get serious about addressing sexual harassment.

From Scientific American

The carrot and stick method works better for some people instead of paying for four years of college and then: Will you like the job you get?

From Seattle Times

But he's likely to use some carrot and stick.

From BBC

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own, has long taken a carrot and stick approach to the island, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing's point of view.

From Reuters