Incentives Work: Getting Teachers to Come to School

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2012
Volume: 102
Issue: 4
Pages: 1241-78

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We use a randomized experiment and a structural model to test whether monitoring and financial incentives can reduce teacher absence and increase learning in India. In treatment schools, teachers' attendance was monitored daily using cameras, and their salaries were made a nonlinear function of attendance. Teacher absenteeism in the treatment group fell by 21 percentage points relative to the control group, and the children's test scores increased by 0.17 standard deviations. We estimate a structural dynamic labor supply model and find that teachers respond strongly to financial incentives. Our model is used to compute cost-minimizing compensation policies. (JEL I21, J31, J45, O15)

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:102:y:2012:i:4:p:1241-78
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25