Pay Peanuts and Get Monkeys? Evidence from Academia

Glenn Boyle ()

The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2008, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-26

Abstract: In most countries, academic pay is independent of discipline, thus ignoring differences in labor market opportunities. Using some unique data from a comprehensive research assessment exercise undertaken in one such country -- New Zealand -- this paper examines the impact of discipline-independent pay on research quality. I find that the greater the difference between the value of a discipline's outside opportunities and its New Zealand academic salary, the weaker its research performance in New Zealand universities. The latter apparently get what they pay for: disciplines in which opportunity cost is highest relative to the fixed compensation are least able to recruit high-quality researchers. Paying peanuts attracts mainly monkeys.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.2202/1935-1682.1976

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