What Matters Most: Teaching or Research? Empirical Evidence on the Remuneration of British Academics

This paper examines the impact of productivity on pay within academia, drawing upon a detailed dataset of academics from five old, established universities. We investigate the relationship between teaching and research skill, but find no evidence in support of the hypothesis that productive researchers are also the best teachers. Our results outline the importance of publication; grant receipt and teaching skill, in the determination of pay. We reveal a large financial penalty for time out of the profession, which, with productivity variables, explains away the gender salary gap. Results also suggest that the best academics stay within the profession.