Promotion Incentives in the Public Sector: Evidence From Chinese Schools

Wednesday, January 25, 2017
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
(Pacific)

Encina Hall: 4th floor

Goldman Conference Room 

About the Topic: Professor Park will discuss how promotion incentives influence the effort of public employees by providing evidence from China's system of promotions for teachers. He tests a tournament model of promotion using retrospective panel data on primary and middle school teachers. Consistent with theory, high wage increases for promotion are associated with better performance. Teachers increase effort in years leading up to promotion eligibility and reduce effort if they are repeatedly passed over for promotion. Evaluation scores are positively associated with teacher time use and with student test scores, diminishing concerns that evaluations are manipulated.


About the Speaker: Albert Park is Chair Professor of Social Science and Professor of Economics at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is a development and labor economist who is an expert on China’s economic development. In recent years he has published articles in leading economics journals on firm performance, poverty and inequality, migration and employment, health and education, and the economics of aging in China. He has co-directed numerous survey research projects in China including the Gansu Survey of Children and Families, a longitudinal study of rural youth. He previously held faculty appointments at the University of Michigan and Oxford University. 

Chair Professor of Social Science and Professor of Economics
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