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Personnel Management and School Productivity: Evidence from India

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  • Scur, Daniela
  • Lemos, Renata
  • Muralidharan, Karthik

Abstract

This paper uses new data to study school management and productivity in India. We report four main results. First, management quality in public schools is low, and ~2 s.d. below high-income countries with comparable data. Second, private schools have higher management quality, driven by much stronger people management. Third, people management quality is correlated with both independent measures of teaching practice, as well as school productivity measured by student value added. Fourth, private school teacher pay is positively correlated with teacher effectiveness, and better-managed private schools are more likely to retain more effective teachers. Neither pattern is seen in public schools.

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  • Scur, Daniela & Lemos, Renata & Muralidharan, Karthik, 2021. "Personnel Management and School Productivity: Evidence from India," CEPR Discussion Papers 15659, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:15659
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    14. Clare Leaver & Owen Ozier & Pieter Serneels & Andrew Zeitlin, 2021. "Recruitment, Effort, and Retention Effects of Performance Contracts for Civil Servants: Experimental Evidence from Rwandan Primary Schools," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(7), pages 2213-2246, July.
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    19. Joppe de Ree & Karthik Muralidharan & Menno Pradhan & Halsey Rogers, 2018. "Double for Nothing? Experimental Evidence on an Unconditional Teacher Salary Increase in Indonesia," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(2), pages 993-1039.
    20. Karthik Muralidharan & Venkatesh Sundararaman, 2011. "Teacher Performance Pay: Experimental Evidence from India," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(1), pages 39-77.
    21. Natalie Bau & Jishnu Das, 2020. "Teacher Value Added in a Low-Income Country," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 62-96, February.
    22. Karthik Muralidharan & Venkatesh Sundararaman, 2015. "Editor's Choice The Aggregate Effect of School Choice: Evidence from a Two-Stage Experiment in India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(3), pages 1011-1066.
    23. Michael Kremer & Nazmul Chaudhury & F. Halsey Rogers & Karthik Muralidharan & Jeffrey Hammer, 2005. "Teacher Absence in India: A Snapshot," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 658-667, 04/05.
    24. Jishnu Das & Alaka Holla & Aakash Mohpal & Karthik Muralidharan, 2016. "Quality and Accountability in Health Care Delivery: Audit-Study Evidence from Primary Care in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(12), pages 3765-3799, December.
    25. Coelli, Michael & Green, David A., 2012. "Leadership effects: school principals and student outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 92-109.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bilicka, Katarzyna & Scur, Daniela, 2024. "Organizational capacity and profit shifting," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    2. Englmaier, Florian & Muehlheusser, Gerd & Roider, Andreas & Wallmeier, Niklas, 2022. "Management and Performance in the Public Sector: Evidence from German Municipalities," IZA Discussion Papers 15676, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Anand, Gautam & Atluri, Aishwarya & Crawfurd, Lee & Pugatch, Todd & Sheth, Ketki, 2023. "Improving school management in low and middle income countries: A systematic review," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    4. Gooptu, Sayoree & Mukherjee, Vivekananda, 2023. "Does private tuition crowd out private schooling? Evidence from India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    5. Daniela Scur & Raffaella Sadun & John Van Reenen & Renata Lemos & Nicholas Bloom, 2021. "The World Management Survey at 18: lessons and the way forward," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 37(2), pages 231-258.
    6. Schaffner, Julie & Glewwe, Paul & Sharma, Uttam, 2021. "Why Programs Fail: Lessons for Improving Public Service Quality from a Mixed-Methods Evaluation of an Unsuccessful Teacher Training Program in Nepal," Staff Papers 316663, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    7. Kumar, Deepak & Choudhury, Pradeep Kumar, 2021. "Do private schools really produce more learning than public schools in India? Accounting for student’s school absenteeism and the time spent on homework," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Romero, Mauricio & Bedoya, Juan & Yanez-Pagans, Monica & Silveyra, Marcela & de Hoyos, Rafael, 2022. "Direct vs indirect management training: Experimental evidence from schools in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    9. Asim, Minahil & Dee, Thomas S., 2022. "Mobile Phones, Civic Engagement, and School Performance in Pakistan," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. de Hoyos, Rafael & Djaker, Sharnic & Ganimian, Alejandro J. & Holland, Peter A., 2024. "The impact of combining performance-management tools and training with diagnostic feedback in public schools: Experimental evidence from Argentina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    School performance; Student value added; Management practices;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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