Financial Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence from Randomized Trials

Roland Fryer ()

No 15898, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper describes a series of school-based randomized trials in over 250 urban schools designed to test the impact of financial incentives on student achievement. In stark contrast to simple economic models, our results suggest that student incentives increase achievement when the rewards are given for inputs to the educational production function, but incentives tied to output are not effective. Relative to popular education reforms of the past few decades, student incentives based on inputs produce similar gains in achievement at lower costs. Qualitative data suggest that incentives for inputs may be more effective because students do not know the educational production function, and thus have little clue how to turn their excitement about rewards into achievement. Several other models, including lack of self-control, complementary inputs in production, or the unpredictability of outputs, are also consistent with the experimental data.

JEL-codes: I20 J15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-lab and nep-ure
Note: ED LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (54)

Published as Fryer R. Financial Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence from Randomized Trials. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2011.

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