Teachers Before the Threshold

During the summer of 2000, the government will introduce a new system of pay and performance management for teachers. The Centre for Economic Performance is conducting a 'before-and-after' panel study of teachers and schools to ascertain its effects on motivation and performance. This paper reports preliminary findings from the first wave of the survey, before the introduction of the new system. The likely effects of the new system, on the basis of these results, are examined from the point of view of motivation and work behaviour, and potential recruitment. The danger of widespread de-motivation is a serious one, and it is essential that the new scheme be seen by teachers to operate fairly and to provide the necessary support to teachers wishing to pass the 'Threshold'. A key role is envisaged for the teachers' unions in building teachers' confidence that the scheme will be operated fairly, and this, it is argued, fits with the government's views on the benefits of labour-management partnership.School teachers, performance related pay, work motivation, public sector

The Paradox of Performance Related Pay Systems: 'Why Do We Keep Adopting Them in the Face of Evidence that they Fail to Motivate?'

This paper considers one of the paradoxes of incentive pay used in Britain's public services, namely that despite much evidence that it does not motivate employees, it continues to be widely used. It is argued that behind this evidence, there are significant examples in which its use has been associated with improved performance. A good part of this is to be explained by the way performance pay links pay and appraisal, and the pressure this puts on line managers to set clearer goals for their staff. There is also some evidence that the goal setting is the outcome of a form of integrative, or positive sum, negotiation between individual employees and their managers, and that it is not just 'top down'.pay for performance, public sector pay

The Network Economy and Models of the Employment Contract: Psychological, Economic and Legal

The emergence of the so-called ¿network economy¿ and the development of project-basedwork pose a fundamental challenge to established methods of regulating the employmentrelationship. There appears to be an unsatisfied demand for its greater use, especially amongemployers, and it is argued that this may be blocked by the lack of suitable contractual forms,such as those that have underpinned the established open-ended employment relationship.Project-based work seeks to retain some of the open-ended flexibility of the standardemployment relationship in relation to its task content but not its duration. The paper arguesthe success of the standard employment relationship owes much to the articulation of itspsychological, economic/incentive, and legal aspects. As yet, this appears to be lacking formore transient forms of relationship.Network economy, Labor Contracting, Labor Law, Labor-Management Relations

The ‘network economy’ and models of the employment contract.

The development of the ‘network economy’ and project-based work challenge established methods of regulating employment relationships. There appears to be an unsatisfied demand for its greater use, especially among employers, and this may be blocked by the lack of suitable contractual forms.. Project-based work seeks to retain some of the open-ended flexibility of the standard employment relationship in relation to its task content but not its duration. The paper argues the success of the standard employment relationship stems from articulation of its psychological, economic/incentive, and legal aspects. As yet, this appears to be lacking for more transient forms of relationship.

The Growth of Extended 'Entry Tournaments' and the Decline of Institutionalised Occupational Labour Markets in Britain

In recent years, British labour markets have been characterised by a decline of institutional regulation of entry routes into many occupations and internal labour markets. This paper examines this change by comparing occupational labour markets for selected occupations in which institutional regulation has remained largely intact with those in which entry has become more fluid. It argues that in the latter case, structured entry paths, which were characterised by competition at the ports of entry, have given way to extended entry tournaments in which competition is spread over a much longer time period. Using data from the New Earnings Survey panel for 1975-2001, it relates the comparatively greater growth in earnings inequality in these occupations to the emergence of extended entry tournaments. As pay at the top has risen, greater competition for entry at the bottom has held down pay and depressed conditions. It argues that many of the aspirant members of these occupations compete for entry for too long, and then become trapped as it is too late to change occupation.Wage Level and Structure, Wage Differentials by Skill, Training, Professional Labor Markets and Occupations

Pay for Performance Where Output is Hard to Measure: the Case of Performance Pay for School Teachers

The introduction of performance-related pay with Performance Management in the state school sector of England and Wales represents a considerable change in the school management system. After 2000, all teachers were subject to annual goal setting performance reviews. Experienced teachers were offered an extended pay scale based on performance instead of seniority, and to gain access to the new upper pay scale, teachers had to go through a 'threshold assessment' based on their professional skills and performance. This paper reports the results of a panel survey of classroom and head teachers which started in 2000 just before implementation of the new system, and then after one and after four years of operation. We find that both classroom and head teacher views have changed considerably over time, from initial general skepticism and opposition towards a more positive view, especially among head teachers by 2004. We argue that the adoption of an integrative bargaining approach to performance reviews explains why a growing minority of schools have achieved improved goal setting, and improved pupil attainments as they have implemented performance management. Pay for performance has been one of the measures of organizational support that head teachers could bring to induce changes in teachers' classroom priorities. We argue that the teachers' case shows that a wider range of performance incentives than previously thought can be offered to employees in such occupations, provided that goal setting and performance measurement are approached as a form of negotiation instead of top-down.Education, teachers, performance related pay, public sector, compensation, industrial relations

In brief: performance pay for teachers: is it working?.

The introduction of performance-related pay in England's schools has had a generally bad press. But David Marsden and Richard Belfield find that it is starting to have a positive impact both on school management and pupils' academic achievements.

Institutions and the Management of Human Resources: Incentive Pay Systems in France and Great Britain

Using data from large-scale establishment surveys in Britain and France, we show that incentive pay for non-managers is more widespread in France than in Britain. We explain this finding in terms of the 'beneficial constraint' arising from stronger employment protection in France, which provides an impulse to develop incentive pay; employer networking activities in France, which facilitate joint learning about its development and operation; and government fiscal incentives for profit-sharing, which reduces the cost of its operation.incentive systems, merit pay, profit-sharing, employer networks

ALTERNATIVE TOBACCO PRODUCTS & DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AMONG YOUNG ADULTS

The association between cigarette use and depression has been documented in many studies. Fewer studies have examined other tobacco products such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and hookah that are used by young adults. This study examined whether increased frequency of use of these products was associated with depressive symptoms in a cohort of n=5,236 Texas college students followed from 2014 to 2017. A hierarchical model showed that increased frequency of single product use of cigarettes, refillable e-cigarettes and hookah was associated with depressive symptoms. Refillable and disposable e-cigarettes were examined separately and results did not provide evidence of a different association for each type of e-cigarette when cigarettes were not also used. Dual use of cigarettes with another product was also examined. Dual use was associated with higher depressive symptoms for most product combinations. However, infrequent dual use of disposable e-cigarettes and cigarettes may not be associated with depressive symptoms. Suggestions for further research are included