This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

The Performance of Performance Standards

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Heckman, James J. (University of Chicago, American Bar Foundation, and IZA Bonn)
Heinrich, Carolyn (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
Smith, Jeffrey () (University of Maryland and IZA Bonn)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This paper examines the performance of the JTPA performance system, a widely emulated model for inducing efficiency in government organizations. We present a model of how performance incentives may distort bureaucratic decisions. We define cream skimming within the model. Two major empirical findings are (a) that the short run measures used to monitor performance are weakly, and sometimes perversely, related to long run impacts and (b) that the efficiency gains or losses from cream skimming are small. We find evidence that centers respond to performance standards.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: ftp://repec.iza.org/RePEc/Discussionpaper/dp525.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 525.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length: 61 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2002
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp525

Contact details of provider:
Postal: IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
Phone: +49 228 3894 223
Fax: +49 228 3894 180
Web page: http://www.iza.org

Order Information:
Postal: IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
Email:

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Mark Fallak).

Related research
Keywords: performance standards reinventing government evaluation JTPA

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. James J. Heckman, 1991. "Randomization and Social Policy Evaluation," NBER Technical Working Papers 0107, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. James Heckman & Jeffrey Smith & Christopher Taber, 1998. "Accounting For Dropouts In Evaluations Of Social Programs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(1), pages 1-14, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Heckman, James J & Smith, Jeffrey, 1997. "Making the Most Out of Programme Evaluations and Social Experiments: Accounting for Heterogeneity in Programme Impacts," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 64(4), pages 487-535, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Hanushek, Eric A., 2002. "Publicly provided education," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 30, pages 2045-2141 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Kathryn Anderson & Richard V. Burkhauser & Jennie E. Raymond, 1993. "The effect of creaming on placement rates under the Job Training Partnership Act," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 46(4), pages 613-624, July.
  6. James Heckman & Neil Hohmann & Jeffrey Smith & Michael Khoo, 2000. "Substitution And Dropout Bias In Social Experiments: A Study Of An Influential Social Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 115(2), pages 651-694, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. James J. Heckman & Jeffrey A. Smith & Christopher Taber, 1996. "What Do Bureaucrats Do? The Effects of Performance Standards and Bureaucratic Preferences on Acceptance into the JTPA Program," NBER Working Papers 5535, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Cragg, Michael, 1997. "Performance Incentives in the Public Sector: Evidence from the Job Training Partnership Act," Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 147-68, April.
  9. James J. Heckman & Lance Lochner & Christopher Taber, 1998. "Explaining Rising Wage Inequality: Explorations with a Dynamic General Equilibrium Model of Labor Earnings with Heterogeneous Agents," NBER Working Papers 6384, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Laurence E. Lynn Jr., 1999. "Governance And Performance: The Influence of Program Structure and Management on Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Program Outcomes," JCPR Working Papers 107, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research. [Downloadable!]
  2. Gerald Marschke & Pascal Courty, . "The Challenge of Measuring Productivity: A Case Study of Performance Measurement in a Job Training Program," Discussion Papers 02-08, State University of New York at Albany, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Bruno, VAN DER LINDEN, 2003. "Unemployment insurance and training in an equilibrium matching model with heterogeneous agents," Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES) Discussion Paper 2003001, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES). [Downloadable!]
  4. Christian Jaag, 2005. "Hidden Teacher Effort in Educational Production: Monitoring vs. Merit Pay," HEW 0503003, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  5. Skedinger, Per & Widerstedt, Barbro, 2003. "Recruitment to Sheltered Employment: Evidence from Samhall, a Swedish State-Owned Company," Working Paper Series 597, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Oliver Bruttel, 2005. "Are Employment Zones Successful? Evidence From the First Four Years," Local Economy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 389-403, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Clare Leaver & Gian Luigi Albano, 2004. "Transparency, Recruitment and Retention in the Public Sector," Economics Series Working Papers 219, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Bruttel, Oliver, 2005. "Die Privatisierung der öffentlichen Arbeitsvermittlung : Erfahrungen aus Australien, den Niederlanden und Großbritannien (The privatisation of public employment services * experiences made in Austra," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 38(1), pages 7-29. [Downloadable!]
  9. Gian Luigi Albano & Clare Leaver, 2005. "Transparency, Recuitment and Retention in the Public Sector," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 05/132, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
  10. Pierre Koning, 2007. "Non-profit provision of job training and mediation services," CPB Discussion Papers 94, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  11. Gerald Marschke, . "An Empirical Investigation of Gaming Responses to Performance Incentives," Discussion Papers 00-12, State University of New York at Albany, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Julie Berry Cullen & Randall Reback, 2006. "Tinkering Toward Accolades: School Gaming Under a Performance Accountability System," NBER Working Papers 12286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Cockx, Bart, 1999. "The Design of Active Labour Market Policies. What Matters and What Doesn't ?," Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES) Discussion Paper 1999035, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES). [Downloadable!]
  14. Gerald Marschke, . "Performance Incentives and Bureaucratic Behavior: Evidence from a Federal Bureaucracy," Discussion Papers 02-07, State University of New York at Albany, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. Kuhn, Michael & Siciliani, Luigi, 2007. "Performance Indicators for Quality with Adverse Selection, Gaming and Inequality Aversion," CEPR Discussion Papers 6261, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Gerald Marschke & Pascal Courty, 2004. "A General Test of Gaming," Discussion Papers 04-04, University at Albany, SUNY, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Pascal Courty & Gerald Marschke, 2003. "Making Government Accountable: Lessons from a Federal Job Training Program," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 03/083, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  18. Miana Plesca & Jeffrey Smith, 2007. "Evaluating multi-treatment programs: theory and evidence from the U.S. Job Training Partnership Act experiment," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 491-528, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Pierre Koning & Joëlle Noailly & Sabine Visser, 2007. "Do non-profits make a difference?," CPB Documents 142, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  20. Jeff Borland & Yi-Ping Tseng & Roger Wilkins, 2005. "Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Methods of Microeconomic Program and Policy Evaluation," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2005n08, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
  21. Derek Neal, 2002. "How Vouchers Could Change the Market for Education," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(4), pages 25-44, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Edward P. Lazear, 2004. "Speeding, Tax Fraud, and Teaching to the Test," NBER Working Papers 10932, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? You can create your own reading lists on IDEAS.

This page was last updated on 2008-9-29.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.