Date of Graduation

Spring 5-18-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in International and Development Economics (MSIDEC)

College/School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department/Program

Economics

First Advisor

Alessandra Cassar

Abstract

According to recent research (Hattie, 2003), teachers contribute to around 30% of the overall variation in student achievement and success – more than any other influencing factor. This study seeks to understand how different types of incentives (monetary, near monetary and non-monetary incentives) influence the “effort” of public school teachers as perceived by the students in Lagos, Nigeria using a novel measurement tool – the teaching effectiveness survey – to measure the teachers’ outcomes. Using a randomized field experiment where students evaluate the changes in their teachers’ effort with a standard teaching effectiveness survey and differences in differences estimation, we show how incentives could potentially improve (or harm) teaching effectiveness. The results show that monetary incentives and near monetary incentives have no significant effect on “effort” while non-monetary incentives have a significant negative effect on the effort of teachers. This could imply that the issues underlying the current state of productivity of Public school teachers in Lagos State run deeper than remuneration or accountability. In the light of some limitations to this study, avenues for future research are multifold.

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