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Curbing cream-skimming: Evidence on enrolment incentives

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  • Courty, Pascal
  • Kim, Do Han
  • Marschke, Gerald

Abstract

Using data from a large, U.S. federal job training program, we investigate whether enrolment incentives that exogenously vary the 'shadow prices' for serving different demographic subgroups of clients influence case workers' intake decisions. We show that case workers enroll more clients from subgroups whose shadow prices increase but select at the margin weaker-performing members from those subgroups. We conclude that enrolment incentives curb cream-skimming across subgroups leaving a residual potential for cream-skimming within a subgroup.

Suggested Citation

  • Courty, Pascal & Kim, Do Han & Marschke, Gerald, 2011. "Curbing cream-skimming: Evidence on enrolment incentives," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 643-655, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:18:y:2011:i:5:p:643-655
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    1. Cragg, Michael, 1997. "Performance Incentives in the Public Sector: Evidence from the Job Training Partnership Act," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 147-168, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Gerald Marschke, 2010. "Incentives and their dynamics in public sector performance management systems," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 183-208.
    2. Boockmann Bernhard & Brändle Tobias, 2019. "Coaching, Counseling, Case-Working: Do They Help the Older Unemployed Out of Benefit Receipt and Back Into the Labor Market?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 436-468, December.
    3. Homrighausen, Pia, 2014. "Differential pricing and private provider performance," IAB-Discussion Paper 201425, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    4. Michael Olejniczak & Dirk Salmon & Wenzel Matiaske & Simon Fietze, 2014. "Arbeitsbedingungen in Jobcentern - Gemeinsame Einrichtungen nach § 44b SGB II Mitarbeiterbefragung zum Arbeitsumfeld, psychischer Belastung und Arbeitszufriedenheit," Report 028, Werkstatt für Organisations- und Personalforschung.
    5. Pierre Koning & C.J. Heinrich, 2009. "Cream-skimming, parking and other intended and unintended effects of performance-based contracting in social welfare services," CPB Discussion Paper 134, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Performance measurement Performance standard Cream-skimming Enrolment incentives Bureaucrat behavior Public organizations;

    JEL classification:

    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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