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Promotions and Productivity: The Role of Meritocracy and Pay Progression in the Public Sector

Erika Deserranno et al.

American Economic Review: Insights2025https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20230594article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.48

Abstract

We study promotion incentives in the public sector. In collaboration with Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health, we introduce exogenous variation in the meritocratic nature of promotions from health worker to supervisor positions and in health workers’ perceptions of pay progression upon promotion. Ten months later, our findings reveal that meritocracy leads to a 22 percent increase in health workers’ productivity. Greater perceived pay progression in a meritocratic system boosts productivity by 23 percent, whereas in a less meritocratic system, it decreases productivity by 27 percent. We show that this reduction is consistent with a negative morale effect. (JEL C93, H51, I11, J24, J31, M51, O15)

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20230594

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@article{erika2025,
  title        = {{Promotions and Productivity: The Role of Meritocracy and Pay Progression in the Public Sector}},
  author       = {Erika Deserranno et al.},
  journal      = {American Economic Review: Insights},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20230594},
}

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Promotions and Productivity: The Role of Meritocracy and Pay Progression in the Public Sector

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Evidence weight

0.48

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.41 × 0.4 = 0.16
M · momentum0.63 × 0.15 = 0.09
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.