Peer Effects in the Decision to Apply for a Professional Excellence Award

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Peer Reviewed icon Peer Reviewed
Date issued
Aug 2020
Subject
Education Quality;
Primary Education;
Wage Growth;
Public School;
Merit Pay ;
Private School
JEL code
M52 - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects;
J58 - Public Policy;
J33 - Compensation Packages • Payment Methods
Category
Working Papers
We study the role social interactions at the workplace play in the decision to apply for a professional recognition program. In Chile, teachers can apply to a pedagogical excellence award. Successful applicants receive a wage increase and are publicly recognized. We exploit the quasi-random variation in the allocation of awards generated by a sharp assignment rule. We document that the success of an applicant increases her school colleagues' application rate to the program by almost 75 percent. The impact is higher for colleagues with closer interaction with a successful applicant. We speculate on social learning as a driver of this result.
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