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Performance Incentives in the Public Sector: Evidence from the Job Training Partnership Act

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  • Cragg, Michael

Abstract

It is curious that more government programs do not use performance based contracts for human-resource-oriented programs. Theoretical explanations for their limited use are that agents' risk aversion limits the effectiveness of performance incentives, and moral hazard can restricted the efficacy of performance incentives if the performance measures do not fully reflect program goals. This article examines the validity of these explanations by studying the performance management system used in the major federal job training program, the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Existing JTPA performance measures lead to problems of moral hazard. This article provides empirical evidence for the notion that unless performance standards are carefully designed, problems of moral hazard may preclude the widespread use of performance incentives in government programs. Copyright 1997 by Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Cragg, Michael, 1997. "Performance Incentives in the Public Sector: Evidence from the Job Training Partnership Act," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 147-168, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jleorg:v:13:y:1997:i:1:p:147-68
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gerald Marschke & Pascal Courty, 2000. "An Empirical Investigation of Gaming Responses to Performance Incentives," Discussion Papers 00-12, University at Albany, SUNY, Department of Economics.
    2. Jensen, Nathan & Lyons, Elizabeth & Chebelyon, Eddy & Bras, Ronan Le & Gomes, Carla, 2020. "Conspicuous monitoring and remote work," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 489-511.
    3. Courty, Pascal & Marschke, Gerald, 2004. "A General Test of Gaming," CEPR Discussion Papers 4514, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Pascal Courty & Gerald Marschke, 2004. "An Empirical Investigation of Gaming Responses to Explicit Performance Incentives," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(1), pages 23-56, January.
    5. Courty, Pascal & Kim, Do Han & Marschke, Gerald, 2011. "Curbing cream-skimming: Evidence on enrolment incentives," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 643-655, October.
    6. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Laurence E. Lynn Jr., 1999. "Governance And Performance: The Influence of Program Structure and Management on Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Program Outcomes," JCPR Working Papers 107, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    7. Ivo Bischoff & Frédéric Blaeschke, 2013. "Incentives and Influence Activities in the Public Sector: the Trade-off in Performance Budgeting and Conditional Grants," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201320, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    8. Ivo Bischoff & Frédéric Blaeschke, 2012. "Window-Dressing and Lobbying in Performance-Budgeting: a Model for the Public Sector," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201212, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    9. Pascal Courty & Gerald Marschke, 2003. "Making Government Accountable: Lessons from a Federal Job Training Program," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 03/083, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    10. Robert Gibbons, 1998. "Incentives in Organizations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 115-132, Fall.
    11. S. Avdasheva & S. Golovanova & Y. Katsoulacos, 2019. "Optimal Institutional Structure of Competition Authorities Under Reputation Maximization: A Model and Empirical Evidence from the Case of Russia," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 54(2), pages 251-282, March.
    12. Luis Garicano & Richard A. Posner, 2005. "Intelligence Failures: An Organizational Economics Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 151-170, Fall.
    13. James J. Heckman & Carolyn Heinrich & Jeffrey Smith, 2002. "The Performance of Performance Standards," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(4), pages 778-811.
    14. Kuhn, Michael & Siciliani, Luigi, 2007. "Performance Indicators for Quality with Adverse Selection, Gaming and Inequality Aversion," CEPR Discussion Papers 6261, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Garicano, Luis & Palacios-Huerta, Ignacio, 2005. "Sabotage in Tournaments: Making the Beautiful Game a Bit Less Beautiful," CEPR Discussion Papers 5231, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Peter Z. Schochet & John A. Burghardt, 2008. "Do Job Corps performance measures track program impacts?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 556-576.
    17. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2373-2437 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Marta Fernández-Barcala & Manuel González-Díaz & Juan Prieto-Rodríguez, 2010. "Hotel Quality Appraisal on the Internet: A Market for Lemons?," Tourism Economics, , vol. 16(2), pages 345-360, June.
    19. Michael Kuhn & Luigi Siciliani, 2009. "Performance Indicators for Quality with Costly Falsification," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 1137-1154, December.
    20. David Fitoussi & Vijay Gurbaxani, 2012. "IT Outsourcing Contracts and Performance Measurement," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 129-143, March.

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