We provide the first evidence that promotion incentives can influence effort of employees in the public sector by studying China’s system of annual evaluations and promotions for teachers. Theoretical predictions from a tournament model of promotion incentives are tested using panel data...

This paper investigates the impact of high school quality on students’ educational attainment using a regression discontinuity research design based on entrance examination score thresholds that strictly determine admission to the best high schools. Using data from rural counties in...

We provide a new explanation for the stronger relationship between income and subjective wellbeing (SWB) found in cross-sectional versus panel studies based on the predictions of a rational expectations model of utility maximization with permanent and transitory income shocks. The model predicts...

This paper provides new evidence on educational disruptions caused by the Cultural Revolution and identifies the returns to schooling in urban China by exploiting individual-level variation in the effects of city-wide disruptions to education. The return to college is estimated at 49.8% using a...