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Teacher pay and student performance: evidence from the Gambian hardship allowance

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  • Todd Pugatch
  • Elizabeth Schroeder

Abstract

More than two dozen developing countries have implemented policies to increase teacher compensation in rural schools. We evaluate the impact of the Gambian hardship allowance, which provides a salary premium of 30–40% to primary school teachers in remote locations, on student performance. A geographic discontinuity in the policy’s implementation provides identifying variation. We find no effects of the hardship allowance on average test scores. However, we find suggestive evidence that student performance improved at the top of the test score distribution and fell at the bottom. Our findings indicate that the substantial, unconditional salary increases earned by Gambian teachers had little to no effect on average student performance, with gains limited to the best students.

Suggested Citation

  • Todd Pugatch & Elizabeth Schroeder, 2018. "Teacher pay and student performance: evidence from the Gambian hardship allowance," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 249-276, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevef:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:249-276
    DOI: 10.1080/19439342.2018.1452778
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Lentini, Valeria & Gimenez, Gregorio & Valbuena, Javier, 2024. "Teachers' preferences for incentives to work in disadvantaged districts: A discrete choice experiment in Costa Rica," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 831-845.
    2. Gopalkrishnan Iyer & Chris Counihan, 2018. "When a Right Goes Wrong: The Unintended Consequences of India's Right to Education Act," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 367-379, October.
    3. Moussa P Blimpo & Ousman Gajigo & Todd Pugatch, 2019. "Financial Constraints and Girls’ Secondary Education: Evidence from School Fee Elimination in The Gambia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 185-208.
    4. Hongmei Ma & Wanpeng Lei, 2025. "Compensating teachers serving rural schools: evidence from a developing region in southern China," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Matteo Bobba & Tim Ederer & Gianmarco León-Ciliotta & Christopher A. Neilson & Marco Nieddu, 2021. "Teacher compensation and structural inequality: Evidence from centralized teacher school choice in Perú," Economics Working Papers 1788, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    6. Todd Pugatch, 2017. "Is teacher certification an effective tool for developing countries?," World of Labour, LISER, pages 349-349, April.
    7. Cruz, Tassia, 2018. "Teacher hiring decisions: How do governments react to an exogenous redistribution of education funds?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 58-81.
    8. Delprato, Marcos & Beltrán, Renata, 2025. "Contextual characteristics and heterogeneity of female teacher supply – The case of public primary schools in Mexico," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    9. Bedasso, Biniam & Mendez Acosta, Amina, 2025. "The teachers who leave: Teacher attrition in Burkina Faso," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    10. Berlinski, Samuel & Ramos, Alejandra, 2020. "Teacher mobility and merit pay: Evidence from a voluntary public award program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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