From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcarrot and stickcarrot and stickinformal a way of trying to persuade someone to do something by offering them something good if they do it, and a punishment if they do not the government’s carrot and stick approach in getting young people to find jobs → carrot
Examples from the Corpus
carrot and stick approach• Current government strategy on unemployment has been described fairly aptly as being the carrot and stick approach.• The carrot and stick approach is to do with reward and punishment, incentives and pressures. 