Economists at the Leverhulme Centre for Market and Public Organisations (http:www.bris.ac.ukDeptsCMPO) have looked at performance-related pay, and have checked the evidence from abroad. Their report, now on-line in full at http:www.bris.ac.ukDeptsCMPOwp35.pdf, may ruffle some feathers. They argue that the teachers’ threshold exercise was “more akin to a general pay rise”. But a genuinely competitive scheme, similar to those introduced in some US states, could “result in small positive gains in pupil attainment”. They also say bad design of performance-pay schemes can lead to cheating, jealousy and “gaming” behaviour. The paper, “The intricacies of the relationship between pay and performance for teachers: do teachers respond to performance-related pay schemes?” is by Simon Burgess, Bronwyn Croxson, Paul Gregg and Carol Propper.

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