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Enhancing the Efficacy of Teacher Incentives through Framing: A Field Experiment

Author

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  • Roland G. Fryer, Jr.
  • Steven D. Levitt
  • John List
  • Sally Sadoff

Abstract

In a field experiment, we provide financial incentives to teachers framed either as gains, received at the end of the year, or as losses, in which teachers receive up-front bonuses that must be paid back if their students do not improve sufficiently. Pooling two waves of the experiment, loss-framed incentives improve math achievement by an estimated 0.124 standard deviations (σ), with large effects in the first wave and no effects in the second wave. Effects for gain-framed incentives are smaller and not statistically significant, approximately 0.051σ. We find suggestive evidence that the effects on teacher value added persist posttreatment.

Suggested Citation

  • Roland G. Fryer, Jr. & Steven D. Levitt & John List & Sally Sadoff, 2022. "Enhancing the Efficacy of Teacher Incentives through Framing: A Field Experiment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 269-299, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:269-99
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190287
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. NISHIHATA Masaya & TAHARA Hidenori & KOBAYASHI Yohei, 2023. "Does Sending Teachers Abroad Enhance Their Quality and Ability?," Discussion papers 23055, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    2. Cadsby, C. Bram & Song, Fei & Zubanov, Nick, 2024. "Working more for more and working more for less: Labor supply in the gain and loss domains," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    3. 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.
    4. Brice Corgnet & Roberto Hernán González, 2023. "You Will not Regret it: On the Practice of Randomized Incentives," Working Papers 2314, Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St-Étienne (GATE Lyon St-Étienne), Université de Lyon.
    5. Derek Neal & Joseph Root, 2024. "The Provision of Information and Incentives in School Assignment Mechanisms," NBER Chapters, in: New Directions in Market Design, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Lagarde, Mylène & Riumallo Herl, Carlos, 2025. "Better together? Group incentives and the demand for prevention," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125349, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Taisuke Imai & Klaus M. Schmidt, 2023. "Loss Aversion," ISER Discussion Paper 1218, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    8. Taisuke Imai & Klaus Schmidt, 2023. "Loss Aversion," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 461, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.

    More about this item

    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
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets

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