Because accountability may improve the comparability that is compromised by lenient grading, we compare exit exam outcomes in the same schools before and after a policy change that increased teacher accountability by anchoring grading scales. In particular, using a large administrative dataset...

There is a clear and persistent inequality of bureaucratic employment between individuals with a bureaucrat parent and those without. Using the recent anti-corruption campaign in China as a quasi-experiment, we investigate how endeavors for counter-corruption affect inequality and potential...

Criteria used in hiring workers often do not reflect the skills required on the job. By comparing trainee performance for newly hired workers conditional on competitive civil service examination scores for hiring French public sector workers, we test whether women and men with the same civil...

It is evident that both male and female workers in medium/larger establishments receive not only higher wages but also have a higher probability of participating in benefit programs than those in smaller establishments. This reinforces the well-documented ‘size’ effect. Further, the firm...

Nudge is about affecting behavior in a certain way through small changes to the choice architecture. However, a nudge may also affect behaviors that the architect did not intend. We show that such spillover effects exist in a highly policy relevant context where the use of nudge is widespread;...

We demonstrate why meaningful work, i.e. job-related activities that individuals view as purposeful and worthwhile, matters to labour economists. Building on self-determination theory, which specifies the roles of autonomy, competence, and relatedness as preconditions for motivation, we are the...

This chapter focuses on the lessons learned from four decades of studying the relationship between unions and job satisfaction. We discuss the original paradox that started the literature and trace the on-going debate over results that differ by sample and by estimation technique. We emphasize...

The public sector plays a large role in many developing economies, but its effect on earnings inequality dynamics has not been widely studied. In this paper, we investigate the earnings inequality trends and their determinants in the decades before and after the Tunisian Revolution, focusing on...

The future of teleworking ultimately depends on its impact on workers' productivity and wellbeing, yet the effect of remote working on productivity is not well understood. This paper investigates the link between personality traits and workers' productivity when working from home. We exploit a...

While performance pay can benefit firms and workers by increasing productivity and wages, it has also been associated with a deterioration of worker health. The transmission mechanisms for this deterioration remain in doubt. We examine the hypothesis that increased stress is one transmission...