Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sector

We study promotion incentives in the public sector. In collaboration with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health, we introduce exogenous variation in the meritocratic nature of promotions from health worker to supervisor positions and in health workers' perceptions of pay progression up...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Deserranno, Erika, Kastrau, Philipp, León-Ciliotta, Gianmarco
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/72220
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/10230/72220
http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20230594
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Incentius laborals
Productivitat laboral
Sector públic
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spelling Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sectorDeserranno, ErikaKastrau, PhilippLeón-Ciliotta, GianmarcoIncentius laboralsProductivitat laboralSector públicWe study promotion incentives in the public sector. In collaboration with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health, we introduce exogenous variation in the meritocratic nature of promotions from health worker to supervisor positions and in health workers' perceptions of pay progression upon promotion. Ten months later, our findings reveal that meritocracy leads to a 22 percent increase in health workers' productivity. Greater perceived pay progression in a meritocratic system boosts productivity by 23 percent, whereas in a less meritocratic system, it decreases productivity by 27 percent. We show that this reduction is consistent with a negative morale effect.Financial support for this project was provided by UK aid from the UK government (through the Economic Development and Institutions initiative, grant PO_26429), the Rockefeller Foundation (through the International Growth Center, grant PIR_20180220), J-PAL's Governance Initiative (GR0961), and the Weiss Family Fund (NWU-004). León-Ciliotta thanks the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (CEX2019-000915-S) and grants (RYC2017-23172 funded by MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 and FSE invierte en tu futuro) and the Fundación Ramón Areces. IRB has been approved by the Sierra Leone Ethics and Scientific Review Committee and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (CIREP Approval 107).American Economic Association2026202620252026info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/10230/72220http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20230594reponame:Repositorio Digital de la UPFinstname:Universitat Pompeu FabraInglésAmerican economic review: Insights. 2025;7(1):71-89© American Economic Association; reproduced with permission. Can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20230594info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/722202026-06-12T07:21:37Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sector
title Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sector
spellingShingle Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sector
Deserranno, Erika
Incentius laborals
Productivitat laboral
Sector públic
title_short Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sector
title_full Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sector
title_fullStr Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sector
title_full_unstemmed Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sector
title_sort Promotions and productivity: the role of meritocracy and pay progression in the public sector
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Deserranno, Erika
Kastrau, Philipp
León-Ciliotta, Gianmarco
author Deserranno, Erika
author_facet Deserranno, Erika
Kastrau, Philipp
León-Ciliotta, Gianmarco
author_role author
author2 Kastrau, Philipp
León-Ciliotta, Gianmarco
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Incentius laborals
Productivitat laboral
Sector públic
topic Incentius laborals
Productivitat laboral
Sector públic
description We study promotion incentives in the public sector. In collaboration with Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health, we introduce exogenous variation in the meritocratic nature of promotions from health worker to supervisor positions and in health workers' perceptions of pay progression upon promotion. Ten months later, our findings reveal that meritocracy leads to a 22 percent increase in health workers' productivity. Greater perceived pay progression in a meritocratic system boosts productivity by 23 percent, whereas in a less meritocratic system, it decreases productivity by 27 percent. We show that this reduction is consistent with a negative morale effect.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2026
2026
2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10230/72220
http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20230594
url https://hdl.handle.net/10230/72220
http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20230594
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv American economic review: Insights. 2025;7(1):71-89
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv American Economic Association
publisher.none.fl_str_mv American Economic Association
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
instname:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
instname_str Universitat Pompeu Fabra
reponame_str Repositorio Digital de la UPF
collection Repositorio Digital de la UPF
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15.812429

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