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Teacher performance pay: Experimental evidence from Pakistan

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  • Barrera-Osorio, Felipe
  • Raju, Dhushyanth

Abstract

We present evidence from the first three years of a randomized controlled trial of a government-administered pilot teacher performance pay program in Punjab, Pakistan. The program offers yearly cash bonuses to teachers in a sample of 600 public primary schools with the lowest mean student exam scores in the province. The bonus is linked to the change in the school's average student exam scores, the change in the school's enrollment, and the level of student exam participation in the school. Bonus receipt and size are randomly assigned across schools according to whether or not the teacher is the school's head. The program increases student exam participation rates in the second and third year and increases enrollment in grade 1 in the third year. We do not find that the program increases student exam scores in any year. Mean impacts are similar across program variants. The absence of positive impacts on test scores may be due to weaknesses in the program's incentive structure and/or limitations in the program's administrative data.

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  • Barrera-Osorio, Felipe & Raju, Dhushyanth, 2017. "Teacher performance pay: Experimental evidence from Pakistan," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 75-91.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:148:y:2017:i:c:p:75-91
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.02.001
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    Cited by:

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    2. David K. Evans & Fei Yuan & Deon Filmer, 2020. "Are Teachers in Africa Poorly Paid? Evidence from 15 Countries," Working Papers 538, Center for Global Development.
    3. 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.
    4. Filmer,Deon P. & Habyarimana,James Paul & Sabarwal,Shwetlena, 2020. "Teacher Performance-Based Incentives and Learning Inequality," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9382, The World Bank.
    5. Barrera-Osorio, Felipe & Ganimian, Alejandro J., 2016. "The barking dog that bites: Test score volatility and school rankings in Punjab, Pakistan," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 31-54.
    6. Evans, David K. & Yuan, Fei & Filmer, Deon, 2022. "Teacher pay in Africa: Evidence from 15 countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    7. Matteo BOBBA & Gianmarco LEON & Christopher A. NEILSON & Marco NIEDDU & Camila ALVA, 2021. "Teacher Wages, the Recruitment of Talent, and Academic Achievement," Working Paper d0be74cf-f264-405f-a38e-6, Agence française de développement.
    8. Abbink, Klaus & Ryvkin, Dmitry & Serra, Danila, 2020. "Corrupt police," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 101-119.
      • Klaus Abbink & Dmitry Ryvkin & Danila Serra, 2018. "Corrupt police," Working Papers wp2018_09_01, Department of Economics, Florida State University, revised Sep 2018.
    9. Gómez, Maria Fernanda & González-Velosa, Carolina, 2023. "Can a Pay-for- Performance Program Help the Vulnerable find Jobs during a Pandemic?: Experimental Evidence from Empleate in Colombia," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12982, Inter-American Development Bank.
    10. Martins, Pedro S. & Ferreira, João R., 2024. "Effects of Individual Incentive Reforms in the Public Sector: The Case of Teachers," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1441, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Florian Englmaier & Stefan Grimm & Dominik Grothe & David Schindler & Simeon Schudy, 2024. "The Effect of Incentives in Nonroutine Analytical Team Tasks," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(8), pages 2695-2747.
    12. Cotofan, Maria, 2021. "Learning from praise: Evidence from a field experiment with teachers," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    13. 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).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Performance pay; Incentive pay; Public schools; Teachers; Field experiment; Primary education; Administrative data; Pakistan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects

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